





■3- 






\"^ 



























*°**, 













* A° 















f 



^°<* 






*v 













4* ^ " 4* 




























^0 




























P++ 



A*. * 



't ^ ( 
























S? 



^ 




^ 










V * ' * 









\* 



A 







& 






» / 1 • 



•• «o 




* ' 



iK 



^* ^ v V ■ 






o • » 




S^^ #■*»&■&+ 



Great Americans of History 



DANIEL WEBSTER 

A CHARACTER SKETCH 



BY 

ELIZABETH A. REED, A.M., L.H.D. 



WITH SUPPLEMENTARY ESSAY', BY 

G. MERCER ADAM 

Late Editor of "Self-Culture" Magazine, Etc., Etc. 

> I ° °* 

■> • i ■ 

, , » 9 , i » a ■> ' i » o = * 

TOGETHER WITH 

ANECDOTES, CHARACTERISTICS, AND CHRONOLOGY. 



H. G. CAMPBELL PUBLISHING CO. 

MILWAUKEE. 
I903. 



EI 340 



THE. LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Copies Received 

SEP 23 1903 

Copyi*nt fcntry 

;lass c^ xxc No 

COPY B. 



GREAT AMERICANS OF HISTORY SERIES. 



Thomas Jefferson, by Edward s. 

Kllis. A. M.. Author of "The 
People's Standard History of the 
I 'nited States," etc. With Sup- 
plementary Essay by G. Mercer 
Adam. Late Editor of "Self-Cult- 
ure" Magazine, with an Account 
"I the Louisiana Purchase, to- 
gether with Anecdotes, Charac- 
teristics, Chronology and Say- 
ings. 
James Otis, by John Clark Kid 
path, l.L. 1)., Author of "Kid- 
path's History of the United 
states." etc. With Supplemen- 
tary Essay by fi. Mercer Adam, 
bate Editor of '•Self-Culture" 
Magazine; together with Anec- 
dotes, Characteristics, and Chro 
nology. 
John Hancock, by John It. Musick, 
luthorof "The Columbian His- 
torical Novels," etc. With Sup- 
plementary Essay by G. Mercer 
\dam, bate Editor of "Self-Cul- 
ture" Magazine; together with 
Anecdotes, Characteristics, and 
Chronology. 
SAMUEL Adams, by Samuel Fallows, 
1). D., LL. D., Ex-Supt. of Pub- 
lic Instruction of Wisconsin; 
Ex-Prea. Illinois Wesleyan Uni- 
versity. With Supplementary 
Essay by G. Mercer Adam, bate 
Editor of "Self-Culture" Maga- 
zine; together with Anecdotes, 
i !haracteristics,and Chronology. 
Benjamin Franklin, by Frank 
strong, Ph. D., Lecturer on 
United States History, Yale Uni- 
versity, New Haven, Conn. With 
Supplemental Essay by (i. Mercer 
Adam, Late Editor of "Self-Cul- 
•tarf*!J3»ga«ne, fire* • alid" ;e 
•rf5u*-a*UrStudv by Prgf *CJjarl«s 
• VJ. F^liAtmds, Ph.D.,of .k>hn»Hop- 
' HnsVnfveVstty; toyttlrefwidi 
Anecdotes, Characteristics, and 
t hronology. 
.I'lfs" 4i>?&is=, °l»y«S°irmuel «Willafd. 

' at 

Atfrfm, 

Late Editor" of "Self-Culture" 

Magazine; together with Anec 

i iharacterlstics, and chro 

nology. 



.tilts' 4i>Vt^. l»vtt<rmiiei •vriuar 
* .1<L* *•-.* *>Jth jr of " Synvl5s»s 
; iTj.tiVt;' «t». jWfthSuppfefce 
tary Essay by G. Mercer Adrfi 



Alexander Hamilton, by Edward 
S. Ellis, A.M., Author of "The 
People's Standard History of the 
United States," etc. With Sup 
plementary Essay by G. Mercer 
Adam, Late Editor of "Self-Cul- 
ture" Magazine, etc.; together 
with Anecodotes, Characteris- 
tics, and Chronology. 

George Washington, by Eugene 
Parsons, Ph. 1)., Lecturer on 
American History, etc. With 
Supplementary Essay by G. Mer- 
cer Adam, Late Editor of "Self- 
Culture" Magazine; and an Ar- 
ticle by Prof. Henry Wade 
Kogers, LL. D., of Yale Univer 
sity; together with Anecdotes, 
t 'haracteristics,and Chronology 

John Randolph, by Richard Heath 
Dabney, M. A., Ph. D., Professor 
of History, University of Vir- 
ginia. With Supplementary 
Essay by G. Mercer Adam, Late 
Editor of "Self Culture" Maga- 
zine; together with Ancedotes, 
Characteristics, and Chronology. 

Daniel Webster, by Elizabeth A. 
Keed, A. M., L. H. D., Ex-Pres. 
Illinois Woman's Press Associa 
tion. With Supplementary Es- 
say by G. Mercer Adam, bate Edi- 
tor of "Self-Culture'' Magazine; 
together with Anecdotes. Char 
acteristics, and Chronology 

Henry Clay, by H. W. Caldwell, 
A. M., Ph. B., Professor of Ameri 
can History, University of Ne- 
braska. With Supplementary 
Essay by G. Mercer Adam. Late 
Editor of "Self-Culture" Maga- 
zine; together with Ancedotes. 
Characteristics, and Chronology. 

Abraham Lincoln, by Robert Diek- 
iuson Sheppard, D. D., Professor 
of American and English His- 
tory. Northwestern University 
With Supplementary Essay byG 
Mercer Adam, Late Editor of 
"Self-Culture" Magazine, etc.. 
also Suggestions from the Life 
of Lincoln by Prof. Francis W. 
Shepardson, pb l> . of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago. Together 
with Anecdotes. Characteristics, 
and i Ihronology. 



5i oo per Volume, 



5 l :.00 per Set. 



H. G. CAMPBELL PUBLISHING CO., 

M II H'AUKEt, 



Copyright, 1899, 
Kv THE UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION 

Copyright, 1905, 
By H. G. CAMPBELL PUBLISHING CO. 




IT has been well said, that in order to make a great 
man or woman, we must begin with the preceding- 
generations, and Daniel Webster came of wonderfully 
good stock. 

Among the Puritans who settled in New Hampshire 
about the year 1636 was a man who bore the name of 
Thomas Webster. He was said to be of Scotch extract- 
ion, but he was a Puritan of the English race, and his 
wife was a notable woman in her generation. Her maid- 
en name was Susannah Batchelder, and her striking fig- 
ure, powerful mentality and wonderful dark eyes, com- 
manded the admiration of her neighbors and friends. It 
is thought that it was from her, that the distinguished 
grandson inherited a goodly proportion of his taste for 
literature, and a certain energy of mind for which the 
jj-randmother was noted. 

Thomas Webster and his wife had several children who 
afterward scattered through various parts of the new 
state, where they earned a somewhat precarious living 
amidst the founding of new settlements, and among In- 
dians who were often hostile. 

5 



6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

In Kingston in 1793! there was born to this family a 
son who was named Ebenezer. His boyhood was spent 
in manual labor, but with a naturally strong intellect,he 
managed also to pick up a little education even amidst 
his unfavorable surroundings. 

He came of age during the French war and enlisted 
about 1760 in the famous corps which was known as 
"Roger's Rangers." In their desperate encounters with 
Indians and Frenchmen on the frontier, the rangers had 
their full share of hardship and danger, and young Web- 
ster, strong in body, and brave by nature, won the re- 
spect of his comrades in many a hard fought battle. 

When the war closed, the young soldier, true to his 
pioneer instincts, built a log house in the northern part 
of Salisbury, (now Franklin) and here he brought his 
young wife, and began the life of a pioneer farmer, about 
the year 1763. At that time there was no civilization 
between him and the far away French settlements in Can- 
ada. The primeval woods stretched away from his very 
door, in an unbroken forest which was the home of dan- 
gerous wild animals, and the lurking place of treacherous 
bands of savages. 

He was a splendid specimen of the New England race 
— a fit representative of ancestors, who for generations 
had been yoemen and pioneers. Like his mother, he was 
tall and large, with dark hair and eyes. Daniel used to 
say that his father was the handsomest man he ever saw 
except his brother Ezekiel. Having only the little edu- 
cation which he could pick up himself, under adverse 
circumstances, Ebenezer Webster was compelled to fight 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 7 

the battle of life against heavy odds. The little family 
struggled on in the wilderness for ten years, and then the 
wife died, leaving five children. 

Afterwards Mr. Webster married again, the second 
wife being Abigal Eastman, a young woman of sturdy 
New Hampshire stock, intelligent, warm hearted, and 
faithful— a noble wife and mother, who also bore him 
five children. 

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Ebenezer 
Webster was Captain of the Salisbury militia, composed 
of sturdy and intelligent workingmen like himself. The 
news of Lexington and Concord went through the country 
like an electric thrill, and he quickly led his willing 
company,to join the increasing Continental forces at Cam- 
bridge. This company was added to the minute men, 
being incorporated in the militia, but serving as volun- 
teers without pay. 

These minute men were genuine patriots who having 
gathered in their crops, and having a month or so that 
they could spare, used to give their services to the coun- 
try until it was time to dig their potatoes, then going 
home to attend to their work and families, after which 
they would hurry away again to the camp and battle- 
field. 

While Captain Webster was stationed in the vicinity 
of Boston, he was selected to guard with his company the 
camp of Washington at Dorchester Heights, and it was 
here that the Commander-in-Chief consulted with Web- 
ster concerning the faithfulness of his section of the 
country. 



g DANIEL WEBSTER. 

He would not have needed to ask if his neighbors were 
in earnest, if he had seen the document, which Webster 
had himself drawn up which reads as follows: 

"We do most solemnly engage and promise, that we 
will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives 
and fortunes, with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of 




Boston in 1774. from Dorchester Heights. 
From Lossinsj's "Washington and the American Republic 



the British fleets and armies against the United American 
Colonies." 

During the last year of his life, Daniel Webster in 
speaking of the signers of this pledge said: "In looking 
up this record, connected with the men of my birthplace, 
I was glad to find who were the signers, and who were 
the dissenters. Among the former was my father, with 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



all his brothers, and the whole of his kith and kin. This 
is sufficient emblazonry for my arms, enough of heraldry 
for me." 

The elder Webster served bravely and faithfully 
through the \var,taking part in the battles of White Plains 
and Bennington and in 1780 was posted at West Point. 
This was shortly be. 
fore the treason of 
Arnold and when 
the traitor's designs 
were revealed, Wash- 
ington sent for Web- 
ster to guard his tent I 
again on that night, 
saying, "I believe I 
can trust yon." 

The fourth child 
of the second mar- 
riage was a little 

boy, who came to the frontier home on the eighteenth 
day of January, 1782, and was christened Daniel. The 
babe was delicate, and the neighbors used to tell the 
mother that he probably would not live long, but as she 
gathered the little thing to her aching heart, she nour- 
ished the strong constitution which was somewhere hid- 
den in the frail body, and under her fostering care, the 
life was developed which meant so much to the young 
nation. 

The child loved nature in all her moods and tenses, 
and she was a kindly mother, filling his little lungs with 




George Washington. 



io DANIEL WEBSTER. 

the purest and best of air, and giving generously of the 
magnetism with which she rewards her devotees. He 
showed little taste for anything except play, but he was 
taught to read at a very early age by his mother and sis- 
ters, as was the New England custom, and while still 
very young he was sent to the primitive schools, where 
even the masters knew very little beyond the rudiments 
of an education. But after a time his mind was awak- 
ened to a thirst for knowledge, and he quickly memor- 
ized whatever was set before him. The father was a fine 
reader, and his sonorous voice, and sympathetic rendition 
of the reading matter which was available, often fur- 
nished a treat for the family during the long winter 
evenings. He drew most frequently from the great mine 
of Biblical literature, and it is largely to this fact, that 
the sou was indebted for the grandeur and simplicity of 
his style. 

While still very young he became a fine reader him- 
self, and often the men who came to his father's mill 
would hitch their horses, and say: "Let's go in and hear 
little Dan read a psalm." Or perhaps they would coax 
him out under the trees while they waited, and he would 
read Biblical extracts to them with all the force of his 
childish eloquence. 

He describes this period of his life in the following 
language: "I read what I could get to read, went to 
school when I could, and when not at school, was a far- 
mer's youngest boy, not good for much, for want of 
health and strength, but expected to do something." 

It must be confessed however that he was of very lit- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. n 

tie use on the farm, and the story of the scythe is proba- 
bly a true one. 

It is said that one day while mowing by his father's 
side, he frequently complained that his scythe "was not 
hung right." His father fixed it several times but with- 
out producing any better results, when at last he told the 
boy to "hang the scythe to suit himself," whereupon the 
young farmer hung it on a tree, and said, "It is hung 
exactly right now." It is said that the father laughed, 
and allowed it to remain there. 

It appears that Daniel was never fond of physical 
effort, and one day when the father left home he gave 
the two boys, directions to perforin some specific work 
which he found untouched on his return. 

With a frown on his face he asked the elder boy what 
he had been doing all day? "Nothing, sir," replied the 
son. 

"Well Daniel, what have you been doing?" 

"Helping Zeke, sir," was the quick reply. 

Ezekiel was very fond of his brother, and indeed the 
whole family accorded to him the petting and the privi- 
leges which so often fall to the lot of the family invalid. 

These loving methods always inculcate the spirit of 
selfishness, and Daniel accepted all the favors which 
were showered upon him, with a feeling that they were 
his due. Stift, he was warm hearted and he at least re- 
paid the family sacrifices with affection. 

The following anecdote illustrates the somewhat sel- 
fish character of the boy, and the atmosphere in which 
it was developed. 



12 DAM I I. WEBSTER. 

Ezekiel and Daniel were allowed at one time to go to 
a fair in a neighboring town, and each was furnished 
with a little money from the slender family purse. When 
the boys came home, Daniel was radiant with happiness, 
while the older boy was very quiet. 

The mother at last asked Daniel what he had done 
with his money? 

"Spent it, 1 ' triumphantly answered the boy. 

"And what did you do with yours, Ezekiel?" "Lent 
it to Daniel," was the subdued reply. 

This reckless borrowing of money, without the pros- 
pect of any ability to meet his obligations, remained a 
radical fault in the character of Webster even after he 
attained to manhood. A book that he wanted was such 
a temptation, that he would borrow the money of any one 
upon whose generosity he could prevail, and sometimes 
it was years before payment could be made. 

In 1 791 the sterling qualities of Ebenezer Webster 
procured fur him the position of Judge of the local court, 
with a salary of three or four hundred dollars a year. 
Tin-, was a great accession of wealth to the modest fort- 
unes of the pioneer family, and the father immediately 
began to think of the education of his children - a favor- 
ite project which had hitherto seemed impossible. 

In New England families, it was thought to be a good 
plan to educate one child for a profession, and the deli- 
cate physique of Daniel, which seemed to forbid manual 
labor, was one reason perhaps, win- the choice fell upon 
him. When the father told the boy of his purpose, and 
in a manly way expressed his regret that such privileges 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 13 

had been denied to himself, the pathos of the situation 
was so great that Daniel never forgot it. 

About 1793 the boy was taken to Exeter Academy 
where he first came into contact with the world. The 
sensitive lad keenly felt the ridicule, which was freely 
bestowed upon his rustic dress and country ways. The 
freedom with which he had entertained his father's kind- 
ly neighbors, was lost, and he, who was afterward the 
great American orator, found it impossible to stand up 
and deliver a memorized oration before these ill-mannered 
youths. Still he made real progress, and with the later 
aid of a private tutor, he managed to enter Dartmouth 
College in August of 1797. 

He was not very well prepared for his collegiate work, 
and in truth he never could correctly be called a scholar. 
He was passionately fond of reading and having a won- 
derful memory, he could make his own whatever ne 
might choose. He said, soon after he left college that 
he was credited with more scholarship than' he deserved, 
because of his ability to tell all that he did know, to the 
best advantage, and also that he was careful never to go 
beyond his depth. 

It was at Dartmouth, however, that he successfully 
cultivated the gift of speech. He would enter the debat- 
ing society, and, beginning slowly, would soon have the 
youthful audience entirely under his control. The fame 
of this unusual eloquence secured for him an invitation 
to deliver the Fourth of July Address for the people of 
Hanover in 1800. In this address he sketched rapidly 
the principal events of the Revolution, and eulogized the 



s* 



;",':'" "Ml": '';>('')■ 



T>»„ 



i" 




Daniel Webster. 
Prom a Daguerreotype by Brady. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 15 

new Constitution. Compared with his later efforts, of 
course it was boyish enough, but the sentiments are 
honest and manly, while the literary work was certainly 
very creditable to a youth of eighteen. In his early 
speeches he advocated love of country, fidelity to the 
Constitution and the absolute necessity of the loyalty 
of the several States to the great whole. 

Two other college speeches have been preserved, the 
one being a eulogy on a class-mate, and the other an ad- 
dress which was given before a college society, and these 
manifest much the same style, and method of work, which 
had been shown in the first, and they also indicate the 
taste for politics which was afterward so fully developed. 

Webster was graduated from Dartmouth in 1801, and, 
returning to his native township, entered the law office 
of one of his father's friends. 

Here he read some law, for which it must be confessed 
he had little taste, and a great deal more of English lit- 
erature, but the financial question was pressing the Web- 
ster family, and before a year was gone, he became a teach- 
er in the little town of Fryburg, Maine. 

He was a successful teacher, having great dignity and 
affability. His influence over pupils appears to have been 
very strong, and some of them, even in old age, used to 
tell of the impressiveness of the scene when the sonorous 
tones of the young teacher's voice rang out in the morn- 
ing and evening prayers, with which he always opened 
and closed his school. 

Even as a young man his personal appearance was 
very striking. He was tall and slender, with black hair, 



16 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

and the luminous eyes which seemed to fairly burn be- 
neath the heavy brows. His head was massive in struct- 
ure, while the high, dark forehead, and rugged features 
gave an appearance of mental strength, which never 
failed to impress even a careless observer. 

The wonderful dark eyes were inherited, through his 
maternal grandmother, from a talented old preacher by 
the name of Batchelder. This sturdy character belonged 
to the early colonial days and was a man of distinction 
and devoted service among the pioneers. 

The early New Englanders were quick to recognize 
"the Batchelder eyes" which were found in the Webster 
family, and were also inherited by Caleb dishing, Na- 
thaniel Hawthorne, John G. Whittier, and other sterling 
characters of New England history. 

The affection between the subject of our sketch, and 
his older brother had always been very strong, and it 
was at Daniel's earnest entreaty that the self sacrificing 
father made an effort to give Ezekiel also, a college edu- 
cation. Having tasted the sweets of learning himself; 
Daniel was anxious that his brother should be likewise 
favored. 

The father was now in poor health, and the farm was 
heavily mortgaged. The older son was the main-stay of 
the family, but the mother pleaded for him, as mothers 
will, and showed her willingness to give up everything 
if necessary for the education of her boys. The sisters 
too, shared willingly in the prospective privations, and 
Ezekiel began his studies, entering Dartmouth the same 
year that Daniel was graduated. While at Fryburg, 



DANIEL WEBSTER. \j 

Daniel Webster, the schoolmaster, was learning a lesson 
which was a wonderful benefit to his really lovable 
nature. 

He had long been accustomed to receive sacrifices from 
other members of the family, and now he realized that 
it was his turn to give some practical evidence of his 
affection. Out of school hours he did clerical work 
which he despised, and gave every dollar which he could 
spare to the loyal brother, who had so long ministered 
to him. 

After three years in college, Ezekiel entered the school- 
room, teaching in Boston, and his salary was sufficient, 
not only for his own modest needs, but it enabled Daniel 
to continue his studies in this home of New England 
culture. He obtained a position in the office of Chris- 
topher Gore, an eminent member of the Boston bar, who 
was afterward a Governor of Massachusetts. Like Web- 
ster he was a Federalist in politics, and it was upon this 
basis that he was elected to the Senate of the United 
States. 

This was a wonderful opportunity for the young law- 
yer. The professional friends of Mr. Gore were among 
the leaders of the Massachusetts bar, and the association 
with this class of men stimulated Webster to his best ef- 
forts. 

In 1805 he was "admitted to the Boston bar, but he re- 
turned to New Hampshire and opened an office, where 
he might be near his father. He went to work with a 
will, and not only obtained a practice which brought 
him a modest competence, but he was also winning a 



18 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

reputation as one of the ablest advocates in the state. 

In 1806 the faithful father died, at the age of sixty-sev- 
en, and Daniel manfully assumed his financial obligations, 
waited until Ezekiel was admitted to the bar, then plac- 
ing the brother in his own office, he went to Portsmouth 
where, in 1807, he made his home. 

Young Webster had always been a favorite with the 
ladies, but he was a little slow about forming a permanent 
attachment. When the fine-looking young lawyer ap- 
peared in Portsmouth, he was considered a great acqui- 
sition to society, especially as his fame had preceded him. 
Older men were not slow to see that he was one of the 
most promising advocates in the State, and the girls were 
interested in the striking personality of the stranger. 

He was the recipient of many social attentions, and 
his brilliant conversational powers made him the centre 
of attraction at dinners and other functions. But he paid 
no marked attention to any one in Portsmouth; on the 
contrary he slipped away from his new friends in the 
spring of i8o8,and went to Salisbury where he found his 
bride. He was then married to Miss Grace Fletcher who 
was the daughter of a minister. He had first seen her 
at church, whither she had gone on horseback wearing a 
closely fitting black dress. 

Da* jiel said at the time that she "looked like an angel" 
and he prosecuted his suit with that determination which 
was so characteristic of the man. The lady in the case 
was given little opportunity to see other suitors, until the 
promise was given, and he was surely a very ardent lov- 
er. When his powerful mentality and warm-hearted 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 19 

gallantry were all enlisted in his own cause, he was irre- 
sistable in his pertinacity. 

The young wife appears to have been a gracious and 
lovely woman, refined in her feelings and warmly sym- 
pathetic with the great work of her husband. 

She was fully capable of appreciating him both intel- 
lectually and morally, and he made a most affectionate 
husband. Theirs was a happy home, where congenial 
spirits found a source of strength in each other, and the 
love-light in their little cottage illumined whatever of 
sorrow, the world held for them. They pushed on through 
life with hearts so warm and close together, that they 
scarcely felt the storms without. 

Mr. Webster was constantly advancing in his profes- 
sion, winning a greater fame and a more profound respect 
throughout the State, and being social in his dis- 
position, he and his charming wife were very popular in 
their home city. Their children grew up around them 
in this pleasant atmosphere, and the influence of the Web- 
ster family became far reaching for good in the commun- 

ity. 

During these years of happy domestic relations he was 
constantly coming forward as a political leader. Like his 
father and older brother, he belonged to the old party of 
Washington and Hamilton — being radically opposed to 
the doctrine of protection. He was more liberal than 
most of the Federalists of his day; he could not endorse 
their narrowness and bitterness, and in later years his 
views became still broader, being largely influenced by 
his intense national feeling. 



20 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

When about thirty years of age he was elected as a 
member of the Thirteenth Congress where he took his seat 
in May of 1813. Henry Clay was then the Speaker of 
the House while upon the floor were many men who af- 
terward attained a national reputation. A few months 
later he delivered an able address opposing Madison and 
the draft of 1814 which included minors. On this occasion 

he attacked the whole 
policy and the conduct 
of the struggle which is 
called "the War of 181 2." 
The following extract 
gives a good idea of this 
forcible speech: 

"Give up your futile 
projects of invasion. Ex- 
tinguish the fires that 
blaze on your inland fron- 
tier. Establish perfect 
safety and defence there by adequate force. Let 
every man who sleeps on your soil, sleep in security. 
Stop the blood that flows from the veins of unarmed 
yoemanry, and women and children. Give to the living 
time to bury, and to lament their dead in the quietness 
of private sorrow. 

"Having performed this work of beneficence and mer- 
cy on your inland border, turn and look with the eye of 
compassion and justice on your vast population along the 
coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take 
measures for that end before another sun sets. ... If 




Henry Clay. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 21 

then the war must be continued, go to the ocean. 
If yon are seriously contending for maritime rights, go to 
the theatre where alone those rights can be defended. 
Thither every indication of your fortune points yon. 
There the united wishes and exertions of the nation will 
go with yon. Even onr party divisions, acrimonious as 
they are, cease at the water's edge." 

Events soon forced the administration to adopt Web- 
ster's policy. The embargo was first modified, and be- 
fore the close of the session, a bill was introduced for its 
repeal. 

Calhoun was Webster's principal antagonist in this 
matter, and many brilliant passages occurred on the 
floor of the House. 

Perhaps the most important service which Mr. Web- 
ster rendered to the country during this Congress, was his 
determined and successful opposition to such a national 
bank as was proposed by the members of the national 
war party. This was a three-sided contest. The war 
party wanted a bank of large capital with no obligation 
to make specie payments, but obliged to make heavy 
loans to the government. This was a proposed state of 
things which involved of course a large paper currency 
not redeemable in coin. Another class of men represent- 
ed the "Old Republican" doctrines and were opposed to 
any bank at all. The third party, which led by Web- 
ster, represented the views of Hamilton and the Federa- 
lists, favoring a bank with a reasonable capital, compelled 
to pay in either gold or silver, and using its own pleas- 
ure about making loans to the government. 



22 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

A bill for the paper money bank came from the sen- 
ate, and 'Webster threw the whole force of his argumen- 
tative powers against it. He took his position as the foe 
of irredeemable paper whether in war or peace — as op- 
posed to wild and unrestrained banking privileges of ev- 
ery character. The bill was defeated, and when the re- 
sult was announced, Calhoun was entirely overwhelmed. 
It is claimed that he came to Webster, and with tears in 
his eyes, begged him to aid in establishing a legitimate 
bank fof the good of the country. 

Mr. Webster readily consented, the vote was reconsid- 
ered, the bill recommitted and brought back, with a re- 
duced capital and freed from the control of the govern- 
ment, so far as forced loans and the suspension of specie 
payments, were concerned. This bill was passed by a 
large majority which was led by the Federalists. 

It was vetoed by the President, and Webster declared 
it was done because the administration was not in favor 
of a sound financial system. 

Another paper money scheme was introduced and the 
fight began over again, but it was terminated by the ter- 
mination of the war, and on March 4th, the Thirteenth 
Congress was adjourned. 

Mr. Webster was re-elected to the Fourteenth Congress 
and this was a somewhat stormy time in American annals. 
There were too many "leaders," to make for peace. 
Most of the principal men of the old Thirteenth had been 
returned to their seats, and Henry Clay came home from 
Kurope to resume his position. Besides these there was 
Pinkney who was considered among the foremost mem- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



23 



bers of the American bar, and there was John Randolph 
with real talent and brilliancy, but with eccentricities 
enough to nearly balance his genius. 

Mr. Webster was late in taking his seat on account of 
the severe illness of 



his little daughter 
Grace, and when he 
arrived he found 
Congress at work up- 
on another paper 
money scheme very 
similar to the one he 
had defeated. 

He threw himself 
at once into the 
work, and showed 




John Randolph. 



that the currency of the United States was sound because 
it was based upon gold and silver, and these were in his 
opinion the only constitutional mediums. In reference to 
to the proposed national bank, he repeated the strong ar- 
guments which he had previously made against the pow- 
er to suspend specie payment. The opposition of Web- 
ster and his friends resulted in removing the most 
obnoxious features of the bill, but he voted against it on 
its final passage. 

Immediately after the passage of the bank bill, Cal- 
houn introduced one requiring the revenue to be collect- 
ed in lawful money of the United States. After a fierce 
debate the bill was lost. Then Webster offered resolutions 
requiring all government dues to be paid in coin, treas- 



24 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ury notes, or in notes of the Bank of the United States. 

He put these resolutions forward in the face of the fact 
that the principal which they involved had just been vo- 
ted down and with one powerful speech, he actually forced 
their passage, bringing about resumption. This was a 
signal victory, and after the bank was established it gave 
us a sound currency and a safe medium of exchange 
based upon gold and silver coin. 

During the excitement of debate in this Congressjohn 
Randolph more than once forgot the claims of courtesy, 
and once during the time he challenged Webster to mor- 
tal combat. He received a dignified reply in which Web- 
ster refused to admit Randolph's right to an explanation, 
and closed by saying that while he did not feel bound to 
risk his life at anyone's bidding he' 'should always be pre- 
pared to repel in a suitable manner, the aggression of 
any man who may presume on this refusal." 

Some biographers claim that this was the only chal- 
lenge which Webster ever received, but the truth is that 
in 1825 he received another, and this was also from the 
hand of Randolph. The secret was well kept, but finally 
came to light through the memorandum of Thomas Ben- 
ton, bearing date of Feb. 20, 1825, Benton having been 
the bearer of the challenge. The diary of John Quincy 
Adams also explains the circumstances from which the 
challenge arose. It appears that Webster made a state- 
ment which Randolph interpreted as reflecting upon his 
veracity, and on his return from Europe he wrote the 
letter to Webster which reads as follows: 

"Sir, I learn from unquestionable authority that during my late ab- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 25 

sence from the United States, you have indulged yourself with liberties 
with my name (aspersing my veracity) which no gentleman can take 
who does not hold himself responsible for such an insult from one. 

My friend, Col. Benton, the bearer of this, will arrange the terms 
of the meeting to which you are hereby invited. 

I am Sir, 

Your Obedient Servant, 

John Randolph." 

Webster replied to Benton that he had only intended to 
state that Mr. Randolph was under a mistake or mis- 
apprehension in relation to the facts of the case, and the 
matter seems to have ended there. Let us be thankful 
that foolishness of this sort belongs only to the past. 

On March 4,1817, the Fourteenth Congress adjourned, 
and then Mr. Webster retired to private life in order 
to practice law, as with his growing family he needed a 
larger income than the salary of a congressman. In 
Washington he had been admitted to the bar of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, and had tried a few 
cases before that august tribunal. 

This Supreme Court practice led to his removal to Bos- 
ton where the Webster familv made their new home, and 
where he soon built up a practice worth about twenty 
thousand dollars a year. 

But it was here in 181 7 that they lost their daughter 
Grace, a beautiful child who seemed to inherit her fath- 
er's expression of face, and perhaps a portion of his great 
talent. It was a terrible blow to both parents when the 
little thing died in her father's arms, her last look being 
given with a loving smile to him. 

During his two terms in Congress he had won a na- 



26 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

tional reputation as a powerful advocate of whatever meas- 
ure he might endorse. He had gone upon record as a rep- 
resentative of the New England Federalists, who although 
they were protectionists in theory, had so far modified 
the old doctrines that they were willing to submit to a 
moderate tariff when protection seemed unavoidable. 

He had also become the champion of payments to be 
made in either gold or silver coin, and while he had not 
hesitated to oppose the administration during the war, he 
was acknowledged as one of the ablest defenders of the 
Constitution that ever stood upon the floor of Congress. 
The doctrines of secession which were already at work 
found in him an opponent whom their ablest advocates 
did not care to attack. 

His name and his powerful personality were recognized 
as a radical American product. And his voice was al- 
ways ready to advocate the independence and nationality 
of our country. The integrity and perpetuity of the 
great republic was a theme which called forth his grand- 
est efforts. In the north and the south, in the east and 
the west, his influence was felt as the champion of the 
Constitution in its integrity, and of the country as one 
grand united nation. 

One of the most brilliant efforts which he made after 
taking up his residence in Boston, was his argument in 
the famous Dartmouth College case,which he argued with 
wonderful power before the Supreme Court of the United 
States, finally winning the case in behalf of the College. 
This established a precedent having deep and far-reaching 
results. It brought within the scope of the Constitution 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 27 

of the United States, every charter granted by a state, 
and extended the jurisdiction of the highest federal court, 
more than any judgment which it had ever rendered. 
His conduct of this case raised Mr. Webster to a position 
at the bar which was second only to that which was held 
by Pinkney, and he was constantly employed in impor- 
tant and lucrative legal work. 

Perhaps the finest of Webster's anniversary speeches, 
was that which was given on the 2 2nd of December 1820 
in commemoration of the landing of the pilgrims at 
Plymouth Rock, just two hundred years before. It was 
spoken of at the time as the most eloquent address which 
had ever been delivered upon this continent, and it was 
given when the orator was not quite thirty eight years 
of age. 

This was the beginning of the third century in the his- 
tory of New England. The young nation had passed 
successfully through the throes of revolution, as well as 
the hardships of pioneers, and in a long address of more 
than twenty-four thousand words, the orator eloquently 
depicted the growth and prosperity of the new country. 

He was now the most conspicuous man in New Eng- 
land with the exception perhaps of John Quincy Adams; 
there was therefore a strong popular current in favor of 
his return to public life. In 1822, he accepted, with ap- 
parent reluctance the nomination to Congress, and in De- 
cember of 1823 ne again took his seat in that august body, 
this time as a representative of the people of Boston. Mr. 
Clay gave a public recognition of his importance by 
placing Webster at the head of the Judiciary Committee 



28 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

of the House, and he was universally regarded as the 
most brilliant man on the floor. 

His return to Congress was signalized by one of his 
great speeches, which was made in favor of his own reso- 
lution to provide by law, for the expenses incident to the 
appointment of a commissioner to Greece, should the 
President approve such an appointment. 

The Greeks were then in the throes of revolution, and 
the American people had much sympathy for them in 
their brave struggle for liberty. 

This speech was not a brilliant classical oration 
as some of his friends seemed to expect, but it was an 
expression of his own grand conception of the true 
mission of the American Union. His object was to 
show that while we should take no political part in the 
affairs of Europe, still it was our duty as well as our priv- 
ilege to exercise an enormous influence upon the public 
sentiment of the whole world. The national destiny of 
our country as an educator among the nations, was his 
theme. 

The orator briefly sketched the history of Greece, and 
especially the brave struggle which she was then making 
against Turkish barbarity. He recounted the fact that 
forty thousand women and children who were unhappily 
saved from the indiscriminate massacre, were sold into a 
slavery which was infinitely worse. He eloquently 
pleaded for some expression of practical sympathy for the 
people who had been so long, and so cruelly oppressed. 

Webster's address found a quick response in the heart 
of Henry Clay who sprang to his feet and enthusiastical- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 29 

ly supported the resolution, which he supplemented with 
another against the interference of Spain in South Amer- 
ica. 

A stormy debate followed, with Randolph on the other 
side, and Webster found that Calhoun had misled him 
concerning the views of the President, in relation to the 
proposed Greek mission. This combination of circum- 
stances destroyed all hope of a practical result, but the 
generous sentiments of the speech were widely read. Not 
only was the address circulated among the English speak- 
ing peoples, but it was translated into all the languages 
of Europe. In Great Britain as well as in America, it 
was considered the ablest speech which had ever been 
delivered in the House of Representatives. 

The address which was given on June 17, 1825, by 
Webster at the laying of the corner stone of the Bunker 
Hill monument was unique as well as eloquent. Speech- 
es had not often been required upon such occasions, but 
the forcible utterance of the great American orator, made 
the practice almost universal, and since that time nearly 
all corner stones are laid with appropriate ceremonies. 

Fifty years after that memorable battle was fought, the 
corner stone of the monument was laid, and there were 
thousands of faces glowing with sympathy which greeted 
the orator on that occasion. 

There are many masterpieces among Webster's ora- 
tions. His splendid eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson, 
ranks among his finest productions. This was given 
Aug. 2, 1826, and the same year he was chosen Senator. 
His lecture at the Mechanic's Institute in Boston at 



3 o DANIEL WEBSTER. 

the opening of the course, was delivered Nov. 12, 1828. 
This was a valuable, scientific lecture, and it gives a good 
idea of the adaptability of the great orator to various 
themes. His tastes were largely in this direction, and it 
will be remembered that when he was graduated, he chose 
a scientific theme for his address. 

The year of 1828 was a memorable one to Webster, 
In January of that year he lost his beloved wife, and this 
was by far the most terrible blow which had ever fallen 
upon him. She had been a comrade and confidential 
friend, as well as a devoted wife. She was the love of his 
early manhood and the mother of his children. When 
he followed her form to the grave, he was pale and list- 
less refusing to be comforted. But the imperative call 
of duty was a help to him, as it has been to many anoth- 
er sufferer, and he found in hard and continuous work, 
the greatest relief which can come to a troubled heart, 
except the one unfailing comfort of the Christian hope. 

In a letter to Mr. Ticknor, Judge Story speaks of Web- 
ster' s first day in the Senate after the death of his wife. 
"The very day of Mr. Webster's arrival" writes the Judge, 
"there was a process bill on its third reading, filled as he 
thought with inconvenient and mischievous provisions. 
He made, in a modest undertone, some inquiries, and, upon 
an answer being given, he expressed in a few words his 
doubts and fears. 

"Immediately, Mr. Tazewell from Virginia broke out 
upon him in a speech of two hours. Mr. Webster then 
moved an adjournment, and on the next day deliv- 
ered a most masterly reply, expounding the whole 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



3i 



operation of the intended act in the clearest manner, so 
that a re-commitment was carried almost without an ef- 
fort. It was a triumph of the most gratifying nature, 
and taught his opponents the danger of provoking a trial 
of his strength, 
even when he was 
overwhelmed b y 
calamity." 

Another great 
effort was the 
speech which was 
given on the tariff 
of 1828, a bill 
making extensive 
changes in the 
rates of duties im- 
posed in 1 816 and 
1824. 

This address 
marked an import- 
ant epoch in his 
political career. 
He now yielded his place as the ablest advocate in the 
country of free trade, and went over to the support of 
the "American System" as it was advocated by Henry 

Clay. 

He was subjected to severe criticism for so doing, but 
he argued that it was merely a question of commerce, and 
when it became the interest of New England to advocate 
protection, he was justified in standing by his constitu- 




Joseph Story, LL. D. Born 1779. Died 1845. 




3 2 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ents. The act in favor of the tariff was passed in May , i S 2 8, 
and soon afterward the South Carolina delegation held a 
meeting for the purpose of inaugurating 'methods to re- 
sist its operation. There were popular uprisings in South 

Carolina, and in the following au- 
tumn there issued from the State 
Legislature the famous "exposition 
and protest," which emanated from 
Calhoun, and which advocated the 
principles of nullification in the 
strongest terms. President Jackson 
was then inaugurated, but Calhoun 
and his state never lost sight of their 

Andrew Jackson. ^.^ ^ they wer(J alwayg ready 

to bring it to the front whenever there was an opportu- 
nity. 

In 1829 Daniel Webster met with another severe loss 
in the death of his brother Ezekiel. This was a life long 
grief, for the affection between them had been stronger 
than often exists between brothers. Another change in 
his life was also made by second marriage, the bride be- 
ing Miss Leroy of New York. It appears that he lived 
amicably with her, but she could never be to him, the 
great treasure which he found in the wife of his youth. 

The loss of his brother, and this second marriage seemed 
to make a complete break in his life. A still wider fame 
lay before him, but there were political scandals, also 
which, although probably unjustified, still had more or 
less effect upon him. During the latter part of his life 
there were many bitter attacks upon him, and some of 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 33 

these were made in public. On January 19, 1830, Gen- 
eral Hayne of South Carolina made an unwarranted at- 
tack on the New England states, accusing them of an 
effort to prevent the development of the west by means 
of the protective policy, and invited a movement to in- 
duce the west and the south to make common cause 
against the tariff. 

Webster felt that such a speech could not pass unno- 
ticed, and the next day, he replied to it, showing the 
groundlessness of the attack, and tearing Hayne 1 s elab- 
orate argument to pieces. 

Humiliated and angry, Hayne insisted on the presence 
of Mr. Webster in the Senate the next day. He then 
made a bitter attack, not only upon New England, but 
especially upon Massachusetts, and even upon Webster 
personally. Leaving the question of the tariff, almost 
entirely, he made a strong secession speech, and boldly 
planted the standard of nulification in the very Senate of 
the United States. 

It was a masterly effort, and many of Webster's friends, 
struck with the brilliancy and real ability of Hayne, be- 
gan to enquire of each other "Can Webster answer that?" 

Mrs. Webster was present at the Capitol, and was great- 
ly agitated by the fire and force of the hero of South Car- 
olina. She rode home with a friend in advance of her 
husband, and waited anxiously for him. 

At last he came tramping up to the door with a heavy 
tread, and the wife rushing into the hall, with tears in 
her eyes, anxiously enquired, "Can you — can you answer 
Mr. Havne?" 



34 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

With a sort of a roar the great Northern Lion turned 
upon his heel with the words: "Answer him! I'll g-r-i-n-d 
him to powder." 

The next day, just as he was going into the Senate 
chamber, Mr. Bell of New Hampshire said to him, "It 
is a critical moment and it is time, it is high time, that 
the people of this country should know what this Consti- 
tution is." 

"Then" answered Webster, "by the blessing of heaven, 
they shall learn this day, before the sun goes down, what 
I understand it to be." 

In due time the Websterian thunder rolled through the 
arches of the Capitol, and the process of grinding Gener- 
al Hayne, was commenced in good earnest. 

Webster began his immortal reply by bringing his op- 
ponent back to the subject which was under discussion, 
and calling for the reading of the resolution in relation to 
the proposed instruction of the committee on public lands. 
He then said: 

"We have thus heard, sir, what the resolution is, which 
is actually before us for consideration; and it will readily 
occur to every one, that it is almost the only subject, 
about which something has not been said, in the speech 
running through two days, by which the Senate has 
now been entertained by the gentleman from South 
Carolina 

"Every topic in the wide range of our public affairs, 
whether past or present — everything, general or local, 
whether belonging to national politics, or party politics 
— seems to have attracted more or less of the honorable 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 35 

gentleman's attention, save only, the resolution before the 
Senate." 

He then followed Hayne over the most important 
points upon which he had touched. In relation to the 
extension of slavery, he argued that he had never made 
any attack on the institution in itself, for although be- 
lieving it to be wrong, and being decidedly opposed to its 
extension, he still believed that slavery within their bor- 
ders was a question which should be decided by the 
southern people themselves. 

This address was the crowning point of a long and 
successful public career. On the morning of the mem- 
orable day, the Senate chamber was packed to its utmost 
capacity on floor and galleries, all available standing 
room being filled. 

In the hush of expectation the champion of the Consti- 
tution arose to his feet, and his splendid personality at 
once thrilled the hearts of the listeners. 

His commanding figure, massive head, and dome like 
forehead, his strong features and deep magnetic eyes, had 
their full effect even while he spoke in low measured 
tones. But when he arose to the full appreciation of the 
situation — when his reasoning, his sarcasm, his pathos 
and burning appeals to the loyalty of his hearers came in 
an eloquent torrent from his lips, a new fire came into the 
wonderful eyes, a new glow swept over the dark face, 
and a new life seemed to pervade his whole being. 

His voice which had at first been low aud musical, was 
now ringing out like a clarion call to duty, and his 
right arm seemed to sweep away every vestige of the 



3 r > 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



sophistry of his opponent. The effect was not only 
magical, but enduring, and this address has gone 
down into history as one of the most powerful on record, 
among the many splendid speeches which have been 

called forth by onr 
Constitution and 
onr country. 

Such was the 
eclat derived from 
his celebrated re- 
ply to Hayne that 
people began to 
talk of Webster as 
a candidate for the 
presidency, and 
this vaulting am- 
bition took posses- 
sion of his heart. 

In 1 83 1 Martin 
Van Bnren was 
nominated as Min- 
ister to England, 
and he departed 
on his mission some time before the question of his 
confirmation came np in the Senate. 

Webster opposed the confirmation with all the earnest- 
ness and eloquence of which he was master. He based 
his attack upon the conduct of Van Buren in 1S29 when 
as Secretary of State, he had instructed Mr. McLane, the 
Minister to England, to re-open negotiations on the sub- 




Louis McLane. 
American Statesman. Born 178G. Died 1857. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 37 

ject of the West India trade, thereby reflecting- on the 
previous administration, and it was claimed also that Van 
Bnren had said that "the party in power would not sup- 
port the pretensions of its predecessors." 

Webster argued that this was the first instance in which 
an American minister had been sent abroad as the rep- 
resentative of his party, and not as a representative ot 
his country! His opposition was successful and the nom- 
ination was rejected, but this rejection created so much 
sympathy for Van Buren that it insured his nomination 
and election to the presidency, which would otherwise 
probably, have fallen to Daniel Webster. 

In November of 1832 South Carolina in convention 
passed her famous ordinance,nullifying the revenue laws 
of the United States, and afterward her legislature en- 
acted laws to carry out the ordinance, and gave an open 
defiance to the United States Government. The whole 
country was excited. John C. Calhoun had resigned the 
vice-presidency, accepted the senatorship of South Caro- 
lina, and went to the Capital as the champion of the doc- 
trines of secession. 

But "Old Hickory" as Jackson was called, issued the 
historic proclamation on December 10, before Congress 
assembled, in which he took the same position which 
Webster had so ably sustained, in his reply to Hayne, and 
from this document the South Carolinians learned that, 
although a native of the South, the President, of the 
United States had no sympathy with treason— that he 
would enforce the laws of the Government even at the 
point of the bayonet, if need be. 



3 8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

A member of Congress from South Carolina, who 
called upon him, inquired on leaving, if he had any 
commands for his friends. Jackson answered, "Yes, I 
have; please give my compliments to my friends in your 
state and say to them that, if a single drop of blood shall 
be shed there, in opposition to the laws of the United 
States, / will hang the first man I can lay my hands on, 
who is engaged in such treasonable conduct, on the first 
tree I can reach.'''' 

Mr. Webster was in New Jersey on his way to Wash- 
ington when Jackson's vigorous proclamation fell into his 
hands; when he reached Philadelphia he met Henry 
Clay, and a little later received a copy of a bill, which 
was designed for the purpose of doing away with the tar- 
iff gradually, by persistent reductions. It was also in- 
tended to prevent the imposition of further duties, and 
in other ways force the country as soon as possible to 
come into harmony with the views of the South Caro- 
linians. But this wholesale compromise was not at all in 
harmony with Webster's feelings. 

There had been open resistance to constitutional laws, 
and until obedience had been rendered in this particular, 
he felt that any consideration of this question of compro- 
mise, was an insult to the whole nation. He immediate- 
ly allied himself with the administration, claiming that 
there would be time enough to talk of concessions after 
the national honor had been fully vindicated. 

At the opening of the session, a message was sent to 
Congress asking that provision might be made to enable 
the President to enforce the laws by using both land and 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 39 

naval forces if necessary. This was a radical measure 
which set the whole country in commotion, but it was 
the only thing which the Chief Executive could honor- 
ably do. 

The message was referred to a committee who prompt- 
ly reported the famous ' 'Force Bill. " This bill embodied 
the principles of the message, and met with the cordial 
approval of the President. But a portion of Jackson's 
own party went into revolt, for many of them were 
Southerners, and they could not bring themselves to en- 
dorse the coercion of South Carolina. 

Mr. Webster proved a veritable tower of strength to the 
administration, and on Feb. 8, 1833, he announced in 
his usual forcible and eloquent words, that he was wholly 
on the side of the Constitution and the laws, and that he 
should give them his most earnest support. 

The camp of the enemy quailed, Mr. Calhoun being 
alarmed for the success of his measure. It was known also 
that the sturdy occupant of the Executive Chair was in- 
dulging in threats of hanging the traitors. Calhoun there- 
fore hurried to Henry Clay, and it was arranged that Clay 
should introduce a tariff bill which was a modification of 
the other, but still gave to South Carolina nearly all that 
she asked. 

On the nth, Clay presented the bill which he advoca- 
ted in one of his most brilliant speeches, arguing that on- 
ly in this way could the tariff be preserved. Webster 
briefly opposed the bill, and introduced a series of resolu- 
tions combating the proposed measure and attacking the 
evident willingness to abandon the rightful powers of 



40 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Congress. But before lie could speak in behalf of his 
resolutions, the u Force Bill" was brought before the 
house and John C. Calhoun in speaking of it made his 
celebrated argument in behalf of nulification. He was 
ably met, however, by the champion of the Constitution 
and the law. On the 16th day of February, 1833, in the 
midst of a most exciting congressional contest, Webster 
replied to Calhoun in his celebrated speech entitled, 
"The Constitution not a Compact." 

"Perhaps," says Mr. Curtis, "there is no speech ever 
made by Mr. Webster that is so close in its reasoning, so 
compact and so powerful." He defended the Constitu- 
tion as it was, and also as that which it had come to 
mean. This speech came to be a valuable document on 
constitutional law. It was an eloquent denunciation of 
the doctrines of secession, and he was not without proof 
that South Carolina was now denouncing the very prin- 
ciples which she had once warmly advocated. 

This splendid address gave voice to the loyalty of the 
nation, and no doubt it contributed very largely to the 
magnificent moral strength and courage, which afterward 
carried it triumphantly through four years of war, and, 
placed its banner upon the mountain tops of victory, with 
never a star torn from its azure field. 

While this fierce debate was going on and friends 
of the Constitution were pushing the "Force Biir'to a vote, 
Clay was exerting himself to the utmost to bring forward 
the tariff bill in the interest of compromise. The "Force 
Bill," however, was passed on Feb. 20th. Jt was followed 
immediately by the bill which Clay advocated, and which 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 41 

Webster vigorously opposed. He argued that it would 
be criminal to sacrifice the interests of the whole nation 
in order to soothe the wounded pride of South Carolina. 
Clay did not then press a vote which he knew must re- 
sult in the loss of his measure, but he succeeded in 
getting his tariff bill passed promptly by the House, af- 
ter which it passed the Senate although Webster voted 
against it. Therefore the irritations of South Carolina 
were soothed for the time being, and the principles of se- 
cession were cultivated assiduously for a later and more 
vigorous crop of the same product. 

In the autumn of the same year, Webster had a pro- 
longed struggle with the President, in relation to the Bank 
of the United States. He came into the fight fortified 
with a set of resolutions from the people of Boston, and 
censured Jackson for the deplorable condition of business 
which had obtained, in consequence of the removal of the 
government deposits from the National Bank. 

He found that the Executive who was so opposed to one 
National Bank, had now been the means of creating a 
large number of small institutions called state banks, and 
to these the collection of public revenue had been in- 
trusted. After the presentation of the Boston resolutions 
and before the close of the session, he spoke upon this 
subject in its various forms, no less than sixty-four times. 

He finally gained the victory over the administration, 
and the struggle resulted in the consolidation of the Whig 
party, as representing the opposition to unconstitutional 
encroachments by the President of the United States. 

In April of 1839, Mr. Webster went to England for a 



42 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



long needed rest, taking with him his wife and daughter, 
and also Mrs. Paige, the wife of his brother-in-law. Miss 
Webster was at this time engaged to be married to Mr. 
Samuel Appleton, a member of the Boston family of that 
name; but her father could not consent to a speedy mar- 
riage, so it was arranged that Mr. Appleton should go 

later in company with the 
son, Mr. Edward Webster, 
who was then a student 
in Dartmouth College, and 
the marriage should take 
place in England. 

The "Gazette," in mak- 
ing the announcement of 
his arrival said, "We cor- 
dially welcome to our 
shores this great and good 
man, and accept him as a 
fit representative of all 
good qualities of our trans-Atlantic 




William H. Harrison. 
Ninth President. Born 1773. Died 1841 



and 



the great 
brethren." 

The day after the announcement, the street in front of 
his hotel was crowded with carriages, and he at once be- 
come a lion in English Society. 

Afterward they made a delightful trip through Scot- 
land, and on the 24th of September the marriage of the 
daughter took place at St. George's in Hanover Square. 

General Harrison was nominated for the Presidency by 
the Whigs, on the 4th of December, 1839. 

This was the first bit of political news which Mr. Web- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 43 

ster received when the pilot came on board the ship as it 
approached New York on the 29th of the month. 

The dreams of retirement in which he had indulged 
when embarking for home, were given to the winds, for 
he had arrived in a time of such political excitement 
that he could not well resist the influences which were 
drawing him into the powerful current. And yet his 
first address after reaching home was in relation to the 
products of the soil. 

The Legislature of Massachusetts assembled in the fol- 
lowing month, and being composed mostly of farmers, 
they were anxious to hear from Mr. Webster on the sub- 
ject of English agriculture. 

He met them in the hall of the House of Representa- 
tives on the evening of January 13, 1840, and talked in 
an easy conversational way to his brother farmers, con- 
cerning the observations which he had made while abroad. 
He was then in the full maturity of his manhood 
being about fifty-seven years of age, and it is said that 
he had seldom presented a more imposing personal ap- 
pearance than on that evening. 

He wore his usual evening dress and also the long 
black broadcloth cloak which was so fashionable at that 
time. This graceful garment hung from his shoulders 
and seemed to give additional height to his commanding 
figure. His dark eyes had lost none of their fire, and the 
dark hair having turned slightly gray, gave an air of 
scholarly refinement to the rugged features. 

His address was a carefully summary of the best meth- 
ods of English agriculture, showing how the soil might 



44 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

be enriched instead of impoverished, by a wise system of 
rotation of crops. 

He soon found himself however in the midst of an ex- 
citing political campaign and he threw himself into it 
with all his soul. During the summer of 1840 he spoke 
in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

It will be remembered that in 1833-34 he made sixty- 
four speeches in the Senate on the bank question, but he 
did more than this, during that campaign, and under more 
difficult circumstances. He was now compelled to ex- 
plain the subject of national finance to large audiences who 
were more or less ignorant of the subject, but he achieved 
a wonderful success, showing that he was entirely capa- 
ble of reaching the masses, and still retain the dignity of 
the statesman. 

His speeches were not only listened to by thousands, 
but they were published, and read by tens of thousands. 

His eloquent words fell upon willing ears, for the peo- 
ple were smarting under the lash of "hard times, 1 ' and 
they readily sympathized with the orator who so severely 
criticized Jackson, and so earnestly demanded a change in 
the political administration of the government. The re- 
sult was an overwhelming victory for the Whigs, and the 
Jackson democracy was buried beneath a "land-slide." 

Mr. Webster had been re-elected to the Senate in Jan- 
uary of 1839 for the six year term, and had takenhisseat 
at the first session of the Twentv Sixth Congress on the 
29th of January, 1840. 

General Harrison having been elected by an over- 
whelming majority, turned to Webster and Clay as his 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 45 

strongest supporters inviting them to Cabinet positions — 
Clay declined, but Webster accepted the portfolio of the 
State Department, and resigning his seat in the Senate 
February 22, 1841, he took his place in the Cabinet 
the following March. 

Before the new President took his seat he had prepared 
a grandiloquent inaugural speech, and came to Washing- 
ton with his manuscript loaded with allusions to Roman 
history. He handed this to the man who was to be the 
Secretary of State, for his approval, and doubtless expect- 
ing to be complimented upon his classical knowledge. 
Webster was amused, but the situation was too grave to 
be passed by with a smile, and after the exercise of a 
great deal of patience and tact, he succeeded in pruning 
the inaugural down to a much better literary condition. 

When he returned that evening to the house of the 
friend where he was stopping, he looked so weary and 
anxious that the lady of the house asked him if anything 
had happened. 

"You would think something had happened," replied 
Webster, "if you knew what I have been doing — I have 
killed seventeen Roman pro-consuls." It had been a 
cruel proceeding to poor Harrison, no doubt, for his clas- 
sical allusions were very dear to his literary vanity, but 
the finer mental training of Webster fortunately prevailed. 

After only one month of official life Gen. Harrison 
suddenly died, and the duty of settling the form to be ob- 
served on such occasions devolved upon Mr. Webster. 

When President Tyler was inaugurated, he earnestly 
requested the Secretary of State to remain at his post, and 



46 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



subsequent developments proved the wisdom of his choice. 
At the opening of this administration, our relations 
with England were such, that war seemed almost inevi- 
table. The unsettled condition of our north-eastern 
boundary had been a source of irritation to both coun- 
tries for more than fifty years, 
and the problem now seemed 
to be as far from settlement as 
ever, and indeed new compli- 
5;! cations were constantly aris- 




ing. 



John Tyler, 
Born 1790. 



Tenth President. 
Died 18G2. 



It had been agreed that there 
should be a new survey and a 
new arbitration, and the prob- 
lem now before both countries, 
was the difficulty of finding 
some one to survey and to ar- 
bitrate, who would be accepta- 
ble to all parties. After the adjustment of many annoy- 
ing complications, Mr. Webster proposed to agree upon a 
conventional line which had been made known to Eng- 
land by the British Minister, Mr. Fox. Soon afterward 
Lord Ashburton who was known to be friendly to the 
United States, was selected by Great Britain to go to 
Washington on a special mission. This envoy reached 
the Capitol in April of 1842, and negotiations were im- 
mediately commenced. 

There were many complications some of them being of 
a delicate nature, and one of these arose not long before 
the negotiations began. The Creole was a slave ship on 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 47 

which the negroes succeeded in obtaining the control, and 
taking possession of her, they carried her into an Eng- 
lish port in the West Indies where assistance was refused 
to the crew, and the slaves were allowed to go free. 

This was an incident concerning which England was 
very sensitive, and the Southern States exceedingly in- 
dignant, and it required a great deal of tact and careful 
statesmanship on the part of our Secretary, to avoid this 
rock of bitterness until the main issue could be adjusted. 

Maine and Massachusetts were in trouble because in 
the proposed adjustments they were to be losers, while 
the benefits which were derived by the United States ac- 
crued to New Hampshire and Vermont. 

Mr. Webster allayed the irritation here, by proposing 
that the United States indemnify these states in money 
for their lost territory. He finally succeeded in obtaining 
the consent of the State Commissioners. The right of 
search which was claimed by England, for the suppression 
of the slave trade was compromised by a clause which 
enabled each nation to keep its own squadron on the 
coast of Africa, and they were to enforce separately the 
laws of each government. 

In the case of the Creole, Webster argued that the ne- 
groes were demanded not because they were slaves, but 
because they were mutineers and murderers. The re- 
sult was the preparation of a clause which carefully 
avoided any obligation on the part of England to 
return fugitive slaves, but it did require the extradition of 
criminals. 

Mr. Webster also wrote a forcible letter to Lord Ash- 



4 8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

burton on the subject of impressment which had been the 
cause of the trouble of 1812. 

He declared that if they took sailors out of our vessels, 
we would fight. The statement was couched to be sure, 
in more diplomatic terms, to the effect that, in future "in 
every American merchant vessel, the crew who navigate 
the ship, will find their protection in the flag which is 
over them." 

This simple statement on the part of our Secretary 
settled the whole matter, and it is now regarded as an 
important principle of international law. 

Thus by careful diplomacy, a long and threatening in- 
ternational dispute was settled, at a time when Great 
Britain was making active preparations for war. 

It was one of the most important as well as one of the 
most successful diplomatic cases in the history of our 
country, and in conducting it, Mr. Webster did not hesi- 
tate to call in the best legal assistant counsel within his 
reach, being especially aided by the able advice of his 
old friend Judge Story, whose assistance he was not al- 
ways generous enough to publicly acknowledge. 

It is known that this well known treaty had a stormy 
passage both through the United States Senate, and 
through the British Parliament, but finally the complica- 
tions were adjusted. 

Even after this, General Cass who was then our min- 
ister to France, not only protested against the treaty and 
denounced it, but actually threatened to leave his post 
on account of it. 

This led to a public correspondence in which Cass was 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



49 



compelled to acknowledge that he was completely defeat- 
ed by the Secretary of State. This was the last import- 
ant war of words on this subject, and the work was ac- 
cepted by both countries as being complete. 

During many long years of public life Mr. Webster 
found much of 
rest and comfort 
in his country 
home at Marsh- 
field. This was a 
fine estate on the 
shore of the sea 3 
and the monoton- 
ous rhythm of the 
breakers soothed 
his tired nerves. 

His own descrip- 
tion of this prop- 
erty is found in a 
letter which was 
written to Mrs. 
C u s t i s, bearing 
date of May 26, 
1842. 

"An old fashioned two story house," he writes,"with a 
piazza all around it, stands on a gentle rising, facing due 
south, and distant fifty rods from the road. 

"Beyond the road is a ridge of hilly land, not very high, 
covered with oak wood, running in the same direction as 
the road, and leaving a little depression exactly opposite 




Lewis Cass, American Statesman. 
Born 1782. Died lHOCi. 



$o DANIEL WEBSTER. 

the house through which the southern breezes fan us of 
an afternoon. I feel thein now, coming, not over beds of 
violets, but over Plymouth Bay — fresh if not fragrant. 

"A carriage-way leads from the road to the house, not 
bold and impudent, right up straight to the front door, like 
the march of a column of soldiers, but winding over the 
lower parts of the ground, sheltering itself among trees 
and hedges, and getting possession at last, more by grace 
than by force, as other achievements are best made. 

"Two other houses are in sight, one a farm house, cot- 
tage built, at the end of an avenue, so covered up with 
an orchard as to be hardly visible; the other, a little 
farther off in the same direction, very neat and pretty, 
with a beautiful field of grass by its side. 

"Opposite the east window of the east front room, stands 
a noble spreading elm, the admiration of all beholders. 
Beyond that, is the garden sloping to the east, and run- 
ning down until the tide washes the lower wall. 

"Back of the house are such vulgar things as barns; and 
on the other side, that is, to the north and northwest is a 
fresh pond of some extent, with green grass growing down 
to its margin, and a good walk all around it. On one 
side, the walk passes through a thick belt of trees, plant- 
ed by the same hand that now indites this description. 

"I say nothing of orchards and copses and clumps be- 
cause such things may be seen in vulgar places. But 
now comes the climax. From the doors, from the win- 
dows, and still better from twenty little elevations, all of 
which are close by, you see the ocean, reposing in calm, 
or terrific in storm, as the case may be. 



late 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 5I 

There, now you have Marshfield, and let us recapitu- 



"ist. The ocean — when that is mentioned, enough is 
said. 

"2nd. A dry pure air, — not a bog nor a ditch, nor an in- 




Marshfield, the Home of Daniel Webster. 

fernal gutter within five miles — not a particle of exhalation 
but from the ocean, and a running New England stream. 

"3rd. A walk of a mile, always fit for ladies feet (when 
not too wet) through the orchard and the belt of timber. 

"4th. Five miles of excellent hard beach driving on the 
sea shore. A region of pine forest, three miles back, dark 
and piney in appearance and in smell, as you ever wit- 
nessed in the remotest interior." 

It was here that he enjoyed the fresh air, and spent 
much of his time in looking after the comfort of the do- 
mestic animals. He prided himself, upon possessing 
the finest horses, sheep, swine and fowls in the vicinity. 



5- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



Of his oxen he was especially fond, and he knew all of 
his sturdy healthful animals by name. 

On his return from Washington he would go into the 
house and greet the family, and then without stopping to 
sit down, would go out to the barn to see the dumb mem- 
bers of his larger family, going from one to the other, pat- 
ting them, stroking their faces and feeding them from 
his hand. 

He was especially fond of showing them to his guests 

and one day, as 

r?Sa»» he stood beside 

a friend, feeding 

the oxen with 

ears of corn, his 

son Fletcher 

amused himself 

by playing with 

a dog. 

"My son," said Mr. Webster, "you do not seem to care 

much for this. For my part, I like it; I would rather 

be here than in the Senate — I find better company." 

It is said that only about a week before his death, he 
had his fine oxen driven up before the house, that he might 
again look upon their sleek forms, and into their beauti- 
ful eyes. 

It was here, in this beloved Marshfield, that he enjoyed 
fishing in company with his sturdy sailor, and boatman, 
Seth Peterson Peterson was a queer old salt whom Mr. 
Webster had picked up, and who was his constant com- 
panion on the water for fifteen years. He was a quick- 




Settee from the House of Webster at Marshfield. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 53 

witted, lnimerous old fellow, and Mr. Webster used to 
credit him with many bright speeches. 

Although his relations with President Tyler were cor- 
dial, some political complications arose which were dis- 
tasteful to him, and in the spring of 1843 he resigned his 
position in the Cabinet, and retired to his beloved home 
in Marshfield. 

His work had been eminently successful, having given 
valuable service to the country during a critical period of 
her foreign relations, and no one except possibly John 
Adams had attained greater success in the administration 
of the State Department than did Daniel Webster. 

He was counted one of the best farmers in the country 
even though his estates were administered with the same 
general financial carelessness which characterized all his 
business. He never kept regular accounts, nor had them 
kept, and no doubt his two beautiful farms were a source 
of more expense than income. He could earn money eas- 
ily in his profession, but he had very little judgment 
about using it, and his unfortunate investments, more than 
once called for the kindly assistance of his friend, who 
relieved him from embarrassment. 

Perhaps he never enjoyed Marshfield more than at this 
time when it was frequently cheered by the presence of 
his daughter, Mrs. Appleton. His library was now placed 
in a room which she had planned for it, and here he spent 
many hours of happy work, while from every window he 
could catch glimpses of the fields, the streams, the hills 
and the ocean. 

In these palmy days on the Marshfield estate, his table 



54 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

was largely supplied from trie products of his own farm. 
Besides the fresh vegetables, there were also his own beef, 
mutton and poultry, with fish that swam the same morn- 
ing in the ocean, or in stream, and the wild fowl which 
were found on his own domain. 

All that an old fashioned New England garden and or- 
chard could furnish in the way of fruit, added to the din- 
ner. Mr. Webster was not a large eater but was some- 
what critical in his tastes. He was especially fond of 
brown bread — said he did not see how anyone could live 
without it, and the fishes fresh from the sea, or in the 
case of the cod, salted over night and then broiled, were 
greatly to his taste. 

During this summer he delivered the second Bunker 
Hill address upon the completion of the monument. It 
was largely through the influence of the speech upon the 
laying of the corner stone, that the public interest had 
been kept alive until the people were enabled to complete 
the most imposing monumental structure which had then 
ever been erected upon American soil. 

The resting times of Mr. Webster were few and far 
between, and in 1844 when Henry Clay was nominated for 
the Presidency, he gave him a vigorous support. During 
this campaign he made a series of powerful speeches, 
mostly upon the tariff. Clay was defeated but it was 
impossible for Webster to keep out of politics, and when 
Choate resigned in the winter of 1844-45 ^ le was 
again elected senator from Massachusetts. In March of 
1845, he took his seat in the Senate for his last term. 

He was absent when the scheming- and intrigue of 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



55 



Polk and others culminated in the war with Mexico, so 
that his vote was not given either way, but he resisted the 
drafting system, opposed the continued prosecution of 
the war, and especially deprecated the acquisition of new 
territory by conquest claiming that it threatened the very 
existence of the na- 
tion, the principles 
of the Constitution 
and the Constitution 
itself. This war, 
however, cost him 
dearly, for his second 
son, Edward Web- 
ster, died at San 
Angel, eight miles 
from the City of 
Mexico, of typhoid 
fever which had 
been contracted on 
the march. Young 
Webster was a ma- 
jor in the regiment 
of Massachusetts 
Volunteers serving in Mexico. He was accompanied by 
a faithful negro servant by the name of Henry Pleasants, 
who had lived with Mr. Webster for a long time. 

Henry had been a slave in a family where Mr. Web- 
ster boarded in Washington, and being cruelly treated 
there, the northern statesman had bought him, and given 
him his freedom. He was now married however, and 




James K. Polk. Eleventh President. 
Born 1795. Died 1849. 



56 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

when Edward expressed a wish for him to go with him, 
it was thought doubtful whether he would be willing to 
go. But he was so strongly attached to Webster and his 
family, that when the soldier proposed it to him, he re- 
plied: "I will go with you, Master Edward, to the ends 
of the earth." 

The young officer had one severe illness soon after 
reaching Mexico, and returned home broken in health 
and with the firm conviction, that only the faithful care of 
Henry had saved his life. When he had partly recov- 
ered his health, he determined to rejoin his regiment, and 
the faithful negro insisted upon again going with him. 
But although he had the same affectionate watchfulness 
and service, Edward Webster died in a foreign land when 
only twenty eight years of age. 

Henry brought the body home, and witli it the favor- 
ite horse which Edward had continued to watch and feed 
from his bed room window during his illness. 

Mr. Webster told the story to Mr. Ticknor, and while 
the tears were streaming down his cheeks, he added: "I 
paid five hundred dollars for Henry, and it was the best 
spent money that I ever laid out in my life." 

The body arrived in Boston, May i, only a few hours 
before the loved form of his sister, Mrs. Appleton, was con- 
signed to the tomb, she having died on April the twenty- 
eighth. The body of Edward was taken to the same 
tomb on the fourth of May, under military escort, and at- 
tended by relatives and friends. A most appropriate and 
fervent religious service having been held at the house of 
Mr. Faige, the brother-in-law of Mr. Webster. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 57 

"On the tenth of May," Mr. Webster writes," I planted 
two weeping elms on the lawn in front of the house at 
Marshfield, as a kind of memorial to the memory of a lost 
son and daughter. They are to be called 'The Brother 
and Sister.' There were present myself and wife, and 
my son Daniel Fletcher Webster,and wife, and my daugh- 
ter's two eldest children, viz. Caroline LeRoy Appleton, 
and Samnel Appleton. My daughter left five children, 
but Edward Webster was never married." 

These two deaths coming so near together were a ter- 
rible blow to the fond father, but a public man cannot 
linger at the tomb of his dear ones. He was sustained by 
the strong comfort of the Christian hope, being a firm be- 
liever in revealed as well as natural religion. 

Devotional tenderness was always the deepest cord in 
his nature, and it responded promptly to the needs of his 
great heart, when terrible trouble came to him. 

One child only, remained to him now, of all the 
little family which had gathered around him in the happy 
days at Portsmouth and Boston, and he went sadly at 
work to prepare for his family and himself, a resting place 
at Marshfield. 

As soon as he could control himself sufficiently,he again 
returned to the post of duty at Washington where con- 
siderable political changes had taken place during his en- 
forced absence. He was in his seat on the twenty-ninth 
of the May which had been the scene of so much suffer- 
ing to himself and family. 

By all the laws of political justice, Mr. Webster should 
have been the nominee of his party for the Presidency at 



58 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



this time, but the victories of General Taylor in Mexico 
made him a tempting candidate and a movement was set 
on foot to bring about this nomination, the managers 
planning to give Webster the second place on the ticket, 
and thereby avail themselves of his great popularity, and 
invaluable services. 

But Mr. Webster strongly disapproved of military men 
for the office of President of the United States, especially 

in cases where military suc- 
cess was the only qualifica- 
tion for office. The position 
which the administration 
under Taylor, would take in 
reference to the questions 
connected with the incor- 
poration into the Union of 
the newly acquired territory, 
was not known. 

Besides this, there was the 
bitter disappointment, and 
we cannot wonder that he spurned the offer of a second 
place on the ticket as a personal insult, and openly re- 
fused to endorse Taylor's candidacy. Henry Clay was 
also a candidate, and although when the convention was 
assembled, Massachusetts voted steadily for Webster, Tay- 
lor was nominated. 

Webster was sorely tempted to go home and rest and 
leave the party to the fate which it so richly deserved, 
but loyalty to the old standard came to the rescue, and 
he made a speech at Marshfield, in which he said that 







Zacharv Taylor. Twelfth President. 
Born 1784. Died 1850. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 59 

"the nomination was not fit to be made" but he argued 
that General Taylor was personally a brave and honorable 
man, and as the choice lay between him and the Demo- 
cratic candidate, General Cass, he should vote for Taylor 
and advise all his friends to do so. 

After Taylor was elected and before he was inaugurated, 
in the winter of 1848—49, there began a conflict in Con- 
gress which led to the delivery of Webster's celebrated 
address on u The Compromises of the Constitution." 

This speech which called forth much severe criticism, 
was strongly in favor of the Union. Indeed his great love 
for the Union was apparently the cause of the great mis- 
take of his life which was voiced in this speech, for as he 
advanced in years he became so anxious for peace between 
the North and South, that he advocated the great compro- 
mise of Henry Clay in regard to slavery. 

The main features of the compromise being the admis- 
sion of California with her free Constitution; the organi- 
zation of the acquired territory without reference to slav- 
ery ; a guaranty of the existence of slavery in the District 
of Columbia, until Maryland should consent to its aboli- 
tion; provision for the more effectual enforcement of the 
Fugitive Slave Law, and a declaration that Congress had 
no power over the slave trade, between the slave holding- 
states. 

Webster, the invincible, had become anxious for peace 
at any price, and he felt that the rising tide of the free soil 
movement in the north must be checked, or civil war and 
possibly a disruption of the Union would result. 

He wished to act as a peace maker between the aggres- 



6o 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



sive South, bound together by slavery, as the greatest po- 
litical force in the country, and the Free Soil party with 
its earnest moral sentiment without political power. 

But "God and one make a majority," and a few years 
more, saw the little Free Soil party in 1856 polling nearly 
a million and a half of votes for Fremont. After that, its 
strides were magnificent, but freedom was blood bought, 

and dearly our Republic 
paid for the support which 
she had given to a great 
and terrible wrong. 

General Taylor died sud- 
denly on July 9, 1850, and 
Fillmore succeeded to the 
Presidency. He at once of- 
fered the portfolio of State 
to Mr. Webster, who ac- 



cepted it, resigned his seat 
in the Senate, and on Julv23, 
assumed the new position. 
It is true that during the second term of office as Sec- 
retary of State, there was no great international negoti- 
ation like that of the Ashburton treaty, but there were 
many questions of an important character which were ad- 
justed with Mr. Webster's usual tact and ability. 

Besides his official duties, a vast amount of matter from 
his pen found its way into the public prints, as his utter- 
ances upon all important topics were freely circulated and 
read. 

In the meantime, another presidential election was 




Millard Fillmore. Thirteenth President 
Born lsoo. Died 1874. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 61 

drawing- near, and another attempt was made to secure the 
Whig- nomination for Webster. 

It was evidently the last opportunity which his coun- 
try would have for conferring this honor upon him, for 
he was now advancing in years, and his health was by no 
means assured. His nomination was also desired by a 
large body of men throughout the country, who did not 
ordinarily take a very active interest in politics, but who 
looked to him as an exponent of the highest principles, as 
well as a representative of the greatest ability of the nation. 

His administration of the Department of State had al- 
ways been considered prudent and successful, while his 
services to the party seemed to make him the legitimate 
candidate. 

His friends made a formal and organized movement, the 
Webster delegates being led by Mr. Choate who went to 
Washington, before the convention assembled, to inter- 
view his chief. Choate himself was not very hopeful of 
the result, but he found Webster so sure of the nomina- 
tion, and so happy in his approaching success, that he 
had not the heart to communicate his own fears. 

The Whig- convention assembled in Baltimore on the 
ioth of June, 1852, and remained in session six days. 
The nomination of Webster might have been secured but 
for the fact, that a large number of delegates had come 
with the determination of making Fillmore the candidate. 

Through fifty-two successive ballots, the great majority 
continued to divide their votes between Fillmore and 
Webster, thus making it probable that in the end General 
Scott would be the successful candidate. And thus it 



62 



DANIEL WEBSTEK. 



happened, for on the fifty-third ballot, Scott received more 
than the necessary number of votes, and poor Webster 
was again bitterly disappointed. 

The most brilliant man by far in his party, and one 

who had given a 
long life to the ad- 
vancing of her inter- 
ests, was in the end 
ignored by the very 
men he had so faith- 
fully served. It was 
little wonder that the 
old party as such 
scarcely survived his 
death. 

Mr. W e b s t e r's 
health had not been 
very good for some 
time, and he seemed 
to fail faster after 
this last great dis- 
appointment. In May 
of 1852 while driving near Marshfield, he had been 
thrown from his carriage and severely injured, and 
during the following summer he failed rapidly. At the 
earnest request of the President however, he retained his 
position, and continued to transact the business of his de- 
partment until the 8th of September when he returned to 
Marshfield, never again to visit the capitcl of his country. 
The distinguished patient seemed to feel that his life work 




General Winfield Scott. 
Born 1786. Died 1866. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 63 

was done. On Sunday evening of October 10th his friend, 
and secretary,G. J. Abbott, was with him, and Mr. Webster 
desired him to read aloud the ninth chapter of St. Mark's 
Gospel, and afterwards requested him to turn to the tenth 
chapter of John. He then dictated an inscription which 
he said was to be placed upon his monument. A few 
days later (on the 15th) he revised and corrected this doc- 
ument with his own hand, wrote out a fair copy and 
signed it. It reads as follows: 

"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." 

"Philosophical argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of 
the universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this 
globe, has sometimes shaken my reason for the faith that is in me; but 
my heart has assured and reassured me, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
must be a Divine Reality. 

"The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human production. 
This belief enters into the very depth of my conscience. The whole 
history of man proves it. 

(Signed) Dan'l Webster." 

When he first dictated this inscription, he said to Mr. 
Abbott: "If I get well and write the book on Christianity, 
about which we have talked, we can attend more fully to 
this matter. But if I should be taken away suddenly, I 
do not wish to leave any duty of this kind unperformed. 
I want to leave somewhere, a declaration of my belief in 
Christianity. I do not wish to go into any doctrinal dis- 
tinctions in regard to the person of Jesus, but I wish to 
express my belief in His divine mission." 

His patriotism also remained strong and healthful even 
while the body grew weaker. He had a little boat on the 
pond back of his house, and during his illness he gave 
orders to have the flag run up to the mast-head and illu- 



64 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

mined by a lantern, so that the stars and stripes were 
there to cheer his sleepless hours at night, as long as he 
lived. He said it comforted him to see it there, and see 
the flag too. 

It is very strange that a man of Webster's legal ability 
and sturdy common sense, should have left the making of 
his last will and testament until these days of physical 
weakness, but he did. 

When he began to dictate his will, he said to the man 
who wrote it, that he had always liked the old fashion of 
commencing such instruments with religious expressions 
and with a recognition of one's dependence upon God. 
"Follow the old forms, "said he, "and do not let me go out 
of the world without acknowledging my Maker." 

When the will was finished, he asked whether Mrs. 
Webster and his son Fletcher had seen it, and whether 
they approved it? They both assured him that they fully 
assented to it. Then said he, "Let me sign it now. " And 
affixing: his signature, strongly and clearlv written, he 
said, "Thank God for strength to do a sensible act." Then 
immediately and with great solemnity, he raised both 
hands and added, "Oh God! I thank thee for all thy mer- 



cies." 



After a time, he began to repeat the Lord's Prayer, but 
after the first sentence he began to feel faint, when he 
called out: "Hold me up, 1 do not wish to pray in a faint- 
ing voice." Having been elevated on the pillows he rever- 
ently repeated the whole prayer, then ended his devotions 
with words of praise, and expressions of "Peace on earth 
and good will to men." 














^J Azr^-ja J ' ' • ■' i ^ jr- C-&-L, /*-*->-) <&**^ ^-W*, Aa^a^ 

Reduced Fac-Simile of a Letter Written by Webster to 
Mr. A. M. Blatchford, April 21, 1851. 



66 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

On the evening of October 23 lie fell asleep, profoundly 
grateful for the good he had been permitted to do, and 
with a sublime faith in the future life. 

The whole country felt the shock, when it was said 
that he was dead. People remembered his splendid pub- 
lic service and the majesty of his personal presence, and 
they felt that one of the pillars of the State had fallen. 

In his will he had said, "I wish to be buried without 
the least show or ostentation, but in a manner respectful 
to my neighbors, whose kindness has contributed so much 
to the happiness of me and mine, and for whose prosper- 
ity, I offer sincere prayers to God." Therefore the funer- 
al arrangements were simple, although the President of 
the United States sent an agent of the State Department 
to propose a public funeral, and to take charge of it in the 
name, and with the resources of the government. The 
public feeling throughout the country was in full sym- 
pathy with the desire of the Chief Magistrate, but when 
Mr. Webster's wishes became known, all his friends felt 
that the most appropriate funeral honors which could be 
paid him were those which he himself had desired. On 
Friday, October 29th, 1852, there was a fervent religious 
service in his own home, and the gates of his spacious 
lawn were thrown open. 

The casket was placed upon a mound of flowers, and 
the multitude swept through the grounds, passing by the 
majestic form, and looking reverently upon the familiar 
features. There were ten thousand people who came to 
Marshfield on that beautiful autumn day s when the ma- 
ples were scarlet in the woods, and the Indian summer 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 67 

had thrown her mantle of golden haze over land and sea. 

The wealth and intellect of America were represented 
there,but there were also the servants and humbler friends 
of him whom they mourned. One unknown man, in rus- 
tic garb bent for a moment over the casket and said pa- 
thetically: "The world without you, Daniel Webster will 
be lonesome." 

The fame of an author is comparatively safe because 
his work is placed in permanent form. But the elo- 
quence of the orator is a thing of the hour. He sways 
his audience very much as he wills, but the people pass 
away from his influence and often even forget the mighty 
impulse which has stirred them. 

There are however at least four of the world's or- 
ators, whose speeches have attained a place among the 
great classics. 

Demosthenes, Cicero, Burke and Webster will be re- 
membered in the world of letters as long as force, polish, 
and eloquence are counted as necessary features of liter- 
ature. When compared with the masterpieces of his pred- 
ecessors, Webster's speeches stand the test. We need 
not fear that American oratory will fall below the earlier 
standards. 

The temporary excitement of the times had passed, and 
his work receives its full quota of appreciation at the 
hands of the generations of critics who come after him. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 

(1782-1852) 

By G. Mercer Adam* 

f\ F great American statesmen, diplomats, and jurists who 
^""^ have not filled the Presidential chair (how many and 
distinguished is the number!) — men of the high stamp of 
Franklin, Patrick Henry, Jay, Hamilton, Clay, Calhoun, 
Marshall, Everett, Choate, Seward, and Sumner — not the 
least eminent among them must be named Daniel Web- 
ster, long the idol of his country and the most eloquent and 
renowned representative of the Massachusetts bar. His 
public career dates from the era of the War of 1812 to 
within ten years of the outbreak of the War of the Rebel- 
lion — a period of marvellous material development, as well 
as thronged with incident, political and social, in every 
feature of the national life. In the Senate, as well as in 
political assemblies, few men of the time had greater influ- 
ence than he, or more powerfully thrilled a popular audi- 
ence by his magnificent presence and persuasive, convincing 
speech. In spite of a towering though vain ambition, and 
marked moral failings, well-nigh irreconcilable in one who 
had such clearness of mental vision, and so wonderful a 
power of impressing his hearers with the justice and sound- 
ness of his utterances on almost all moral, legal, and con- 



•Historian, Biographer, and Essayist, Author of a "Precis of English His- 
tory," a ' Continuation of Grecian History," etc., and for many years Editor of 
Si'lf-Culture Magazine.— The Publishers. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 69 

stitutional questions, Webster enjoyed, in a phenomenal de- 
gree, the high regard and veneration, particularly of the 
New England people, and the adulation of those who were 
charmed by his eloquence and won to the man by his ardent, 
if somewhat sectional, patriotism, and his fiery and ani- 
mating national spirit. His sympathy with the masses, it 
is true, was never real or intimate ; on the contrary, he stood, 
professionally at least, by the classes ; and in the courts, if 
not also in the Senate, was the advocate of property and the 
great corporations, who paid him enormous fees, that un- 
fortunately led to extravagant living and to a looseness 
in money matters which sadly mars, as it properly detracts 
from, his widespread fame. Nor was his attitude on the 
slavery question, in approving compromise and concession, 
while righteously holding it to be a great evil, either con- 
sistent or commendable. Still less so was his tergiversation 
on economic issues, and his change of position from that 
early taken by him in favor of Free Trade to that of Pro- 
tection and a high tariff— a change of view not one of prin- 
ciple, but a concession to the interests of his business friends 
and manufacturing supporters in New England. Despite 
these and other inconsistencies and fluctuations of opinion 
and utterance on public questions of great moment, Webster, 
alike by his eloquence and the power of his personality, was 
a real force in his time ; and as an orator and declaimer of 
entrancing gifts he was naturally much sought after on 
high festivals and commemorative and dedicatory occa- 
sions. 

In viewing the life and career of such a man, it is at 
times hard to do him full justice when we consider how 



;o DANIEL WEBSTER. 

almost transcendent were his gifts, and how picturesquely 
he looms up on the canvas of the historic past, on occasions 
such as those when he delivered his famous address, early 
in his career, at Plymouth, in commemorating the Landing 
of the Pilgrims, and at Charlestown, Mass., at the laying 
of the corner stone of Bunker Hill monument. Grand also 
was the effect he produced at Faneuil Hall, Boston, when 
delivering his oration, in 1826, on the just deceased patriots 
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. On these memorable 
occasions, as well as on those on which he delivered his 
masterpieces of powerful and theoretical argument, in the 
celebrated Dartmouth College case, and in that ablest of all 
American debates — his magnificent reply in the Senate to 
Colonel R. Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, opposing the right 
of Nullification — we see to what heights Webster could 
soar, and how marvellous were the powers of the man when 
great occasion called them into influential and patriotic ex- 
ercise. At such times one forgets the weaknesses of the 
great lawyer and the flaws in his character, and remembers 
only his brilliant successes and noble achievements. 

The chief events in the life-history of Daniel Webster are, 
for the most part, familiar to all ; but as we purpose afresh 
to follow them, that we may see them as a Connected whole, 
we begin to trace them succinctly from his birth and early 
youth up, and throughout his career, until the end came, in 
his seventy-first year, at his historic New England home, in 
Marshfield, in the autumn of 1852. The future statesman 
and orator of more than national repute was born at Salis- 
bury (Franklin), N. H., January 18, 1782. His father, 
Ebenczer Webster, was a worthy man of Scotch extraction, 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 71 

who had seen service as a captain in the French and Indian 
War, and now lived with his family, to whom he was de- 
voted, on a New Hampshire farm. Living on the frontier, 
young Daniel, then a somewhat delicate youth, was depend- 
ent for his early training on a good and affectionate mother, 
and for the rather scanty schooling to be had in the neigh- 
borhood, and that only in the winter. When he was fifteen, his 
parents determined, however, to send the lad to college, 
a step which necessarily involved more or less rigid econ- 
omy and an extra but ere long well-requited struggle at 
home. His systematic, though still slender, education 
began at Philips Academy, in Exeter, whence, after being 
coached by a tutor, he passed to Dartmouth College, where 
he graduated in 1801. While at the latter, he had to meet 
his college expenses by teaching school in vacation time; 
and he afterwards taught in an academy in Maine, receiv- 
ing there the pittance of $350 a year, the bulk of which 
sum he saved to help a younger brother through college, 
earning the money to pay his own board, it is said, by copy- 
ing deeds through the long winter evenings. 

At this period in his young and promising life, the New 
Hampshire lad cast about for a profession, and presently 
we find him reading and studying assiduously in a law- 
yer's office, first at Salisbury, and later on at Boston, in 
the law office of Governor Gore. In 1805, he was admitted 
to the bar, and began to practice at Boscawen, near his 
early home ; and after his father's death he opened an office 
in Portsmouth, then the largest town in his native State, 
where he began to take a leading place in his profession. 
In May, 181 3, he was elected to Congress, where he was 



72 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

placed on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and espous- 
ing the cause of the Federalist party made two notable 
speeches in the House, one in opposition to the war policy 
of the government, then engrossed in the War of 1812 with 
Britain and the invasion of Canada, and the other on the 
Berlin and Milan decrees, which injuriously affected the 
maritime commerce of the young nation in the complications 
then existing between Britain and France under Bonaparte. 
In these speeches, though the influence of a Federalist in 
Congress would not then be great, Webster at least showed 
the House that a new power had arisen in oratory. 

In 1816, the young orator-congressman withdrew for a 
time from political life and devoted himself to his profes- 
sion. In that year he removed to Boston, where he soon 
won for himself a place as prominent as he had held in New 
Hampshire, and within a few years his reputation as a law- 
yer became national. This he earned, in part, by his legal 
attainments and by the force and vigor of his appearances 
in both the State and Federal Courts, and, in part also, by 
his speeches in the House of Representatives, and his ad- 
dresses before political assemblages here and there in the 
country on topics of moment at the period — political, finan- 
cial, and industrial. In 1818, he further greatly enhanced 
his reputation as a lawyer by a speech before the Supreme 
Court, in the celebrated Dartmouth College case, the im- 
portant result of which was to restrain an individual State 
from impairing, or otherwise modifying, a charter once is- 
sued, and thus correspondingly enhancing the Federal power. 
This achievement of Mr. Webster not only brought him 
fame as a constitutional lawyer, but earned him the grati- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



73 



tude of all institutions, whether academic or benevolent, 
whose charters or other interests were in jeopardy from un- 
scrupulous politicians or intermeddling enemies, since he 
guarded them forever after from attack, and secured them 
in their inviolable rights and privileges in the eye of the 
law. Similarly, in other cases, the great jurist rendered 
high service to his country, by settling many difficult and 
important questions, involving sacred legal rights, by the 
force as well as the justness of his arguments, by his wide 
knowledge of the principles of equity, and by his intimate 
acquaintance with the nice points and the technicalities of 
his profession. Among these notable cases is that of Ste- 
phen Girard's will, the purpose and spirit of which Mr. 
Webster ably sustained, "while demonstrating the vital im- 
portance of Christianity to the success of free institutions." 
Other instances embrace the Ogden and Saunders case, 
where, as it has been said, Mr. Webster "settled the consti- 
tutionality of State bankrupt laws ; the United States Bank 
case, in which he maintained the right of a citizen of one 
State to performi any legal act in another State ; and the 
Rhode Island case, in which he proved the right of a State 
to modify its own institutions of government. In the 
Knapp murder case, he brought out the power of conscience 
— the voice of God to the soul — with such terrible forensic 
eloquence that he (Webster) won the admiration of all 
Christian people." 

We now approach the era of Webster's most useful 
career in politics, for in 1823 he was returned a member 
of the House of Representatives from his own Boston 
district. In some degree his utterances in Congress and his 



74 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

attitude in regard to the political questions of the time 
curiously conflict with views held by him later in life and 
perplex one in seeking to do justice to his character as 
a statesman. This is explained, in part, by the contem- 
porary exigencies of party, and in part also by the growth of 
conviction in his mind, influenced more or less by current 
opinion and the behests of influential constituents. In spite 
of these changes of front and oscillations of mind upon 
not a few public questions of vital character, Mr. Webster, 
nevertheless, proved himself ever loyal to his country, and 
powerfully as well as consistently strove to consolidate the 
Union and preserve the Nation, so far as patriotism and 
public opinion could influence that end, "one and insepar- 
able." This, at the period, was no easy thing to do, con- 
sidering the discordant issues then before the country, and 
the experimental stage of the national Constitution, with 
some States and sections of the Nation strongly opposed 
to a centralized and dominating Federal power, and bitterly 
resenting imposed restrictions by it on local freedom and the 
principle involved in State-Rights. Just here, in meeting 
and defying this anti-national clamor, particularly at this 
era in South Carolina, where the Nullification movement 
was then rife, did Daniel Webster rise to a height of patriotic 
grandeur and loyalty to the Union, of incalculable service 
to the nation ; and especially in the magnificent argument 
he set before the people for the maintainance of the Con- 
stitution in its integrity, and his forceful and lucid presenta- 
tion of the theory upon which it was originally founded 
• — not as a partnership to be dissolved at will, but as an in- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



75 



violable compact, at all hazards to be permanently main- 
tained and cherished, even with the shedding of blood. 

In this splendid defense of the supremacy of the Federal 
authority, and the trenchant - arraignment of threatened 
State resistance to it, which marks Webster's memorable 
speech in "Reply to Hayne" and that answer to Calhoun 
on "The Constitution not a Compact," we have constitutional 
addresses of the highest and most impressive character, which 
well earned for the great orator the plaudits of the people 
of his day, as they have since won for him the honor 
and gratitude of all who have come after them. Alas! 
that the memory of this glorious service should be after- 
wards clouded by his maladroit, ill-considered "Seventh 
of March speech," in 1850, in support of Clay's compromise 
measures, by which Webster hoped, through Southern favor, 
to obtain the coveted prize of the Presidency — a speech, 
which if we do not wrong the man, shows him in rather 
an unenviable and far less commendable light, as a palterer 
with his conscience, and a truckler to Compromise and the 
exactions of Sectionalism, with its evil taint of slavery, 
which ere long was to be fought out and scorched to the 
bone in the fires of Civil War. 

But we turn to other and less infelicitous subjects. In 
1824, Mr. Webster took part in Congress in the debate 
on the desired appointment of a Commissioner to Greece, 
then in the thick of her six-years' struggle (1821-27) with 
the Ottoman Porte. Though not arguing for active inter- 
vention in the cause of Greece, he desired to show Ameri- 
can sympathy for a brave people engaged in a life and death 
conflict for independence against the cruel and despotic 



7 6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Mussulman Power. In the debate, he eulogized the Greek 
patriots, and, like George Canning, the English statesman, 
desired to show the world his classic sympathies with the 
cause of Freedom. Nothing, however, came of the motion ; 
though Mr. Webster's speech was one that did great credit 
alike to the orator's head and heart. The Greeks, as we 
know, were fortunately able, with the aid in the long run 
of England, France, and Russia, to free themselves from 
Turkish dominion, and the resurrection of their historic coun- 
try and its admission into the family of European king- 
doms at length came about. Just four years before this, 
Mr. Webster delivered at Plymouth, Mass., that thought- 
ful and felicitous discourse in commemoration of the Land- 
ing of the Pilgrims in New England, two hundred years 
earlier, and delighted the ear of the young nation with his 
touching and eloquent reminiscence of the era and the 
sacred spot "where the first scene of our history was laid ; 
where the hearths and altars of New England were first 
placed ; where Christianity, and civilization, and letters, 
made their first lodgment, — in a vast extent of country, 
covered with a wilderness and peopled by roving barbar- 
ians." Profiting by the occasion and its memories, and seek- 
ing wisely to impress upon his hearers a sense of the 
debt due the early fathers of the country and that grati- 
tude to them, called for in those who stood around him, the 
orator, as he concluded his magnificent address, summons 
them patriotically to manifest both "some proof that we 
hold the blessings transmitted from our fathers in just 
estimation ; some proof of our attachment to the cause of 
good government, and of civil and religious liberty ; some 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 77 

proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote everything 
which may enlarge the understandings and improve the 
hearts of men." "The oration," writes Mr. Carl Schurz, 
in commenting on it, "with its historical picturesqueness, 
its richness of thought and reasoning, its broad sweep 
of contemplation, and the noble and magnificent sim- 
plicity of its eloquence, was in itself an event. No literary 
production of the period in America achieved greater re- 
nown. From that time on, Massachusetts loved to exhibit 
herself in his person on occasions of State ; and, in prefer- 
ence to all others, Webster was her spokesman when she 
commemorated the great events of her history. As such 
he produced a series of addresses — at the laying of the 
cornerstone, and later at the completion, of the Bunker 
Hill monument, on the death of John Adams and of Thomas 
Jefferson, and on other occasions — which his contempor- 
aries acclaimed as ranking with the great oratorical achieve- 
ments of antiquity." 

In the years 1828 and 1829, Mr. Webster was in his fam- 
ily relations doubly bereaved, first in the loss of a loved 
wife, and then in the loss of his brother, Ezekiel, to whom 
he was much attached. The loss he suffered in the death 
of Mrs. Webster, though greatly lamented, he sought in 
some measure to make good, by taking to himself, a year 
later, a second wife, who, we believe, survived her distin- 
guished husband by some years. In 1828, Mr. Webster 
became a member of the United States Senate, and sat in 
the Upper House until 1841, when he was appointed Secre- 
tary of State under President Harrison and under his suc- 
cessor, Mr. Tyler; after which he resumed his seat in the 



7 8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Chamber until 1S50, when he accepted h : s former post of 
Secretary of State in President Fillmore's Cabinet. While 
a member of the Senate, from 1828 to 1841, he delivered 
those great constitutional speeches that raised him to the pin- 
nacle of fame and gave him his commanding position as a 
leader of the Northern Whigs. It was at this period that 
we have from him his masterly address in "Reply to Hayne," 
and the hardly less celebrated one on that organic and 
fundamental theory, which he so ably propounded and 
elaborated in reply to Calhoun, entitled "The Constitution 
not a Compact." Besides these and other notable addresses 
in the Senate, Mr. Webster, in this active and most useful 
period of his career as a publicist and statesman, delivered 
numberless addresses on financial, and such like vital, topics 
that agitated the country at the time, including the dis- 
cussion of the important tariff question, on which the mem- 
ber for Massachusetts, as we have previously said, made 
a volte face. In explanation of the latter, there seems little 
reason to doubt that Mr. Webster was moved by consider- 
ation for those who had been his manufacturing constitu- 
ents, while in the House of Representatives, when he turned 
his back on Free Trade and accepted Protection and a high 
tariff as the policy to be adopted at this time by the nation. 
We are not saying that he did wrong in this ; but it is worth 
while for those interested in economic questions to see what 
were Mr. Webster's early views on the vexed problem, 
and how ably and attractively he presented the argument 
for Free Trade, when he opposed Clay's Protectionist tariff, 
and then afterwards abandoned the broad truths of eco- 
nomic science and the Free Trade principles for which 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 79 

he had at one time contended. More staunch, as well as of 
incalculable benefit just then to the country, was his course 
on financial matters, when the question arose as to the found- 
ing of a National Bank. On the theme he took a thor- 
oughly sane and sound position, pointing out the evils of an 
inflated currency, and the essential requirements, in all le- 
gitimate banking operations, that they should inspire public 
confidence, while doing justice to the credit and honorable 
reputation of the Nation. 

We wish we could speak as warmly of his attitude in re- 
gard to slavery, which, unhappily, like that on the tariff, 
radically changed, in his desire to stand well with the South 
and capture its vote on the Presidency, to which he had set 
vain though longing eyes. This change of front is all the 
more remarkable since before the period came when he 
wrought dismay in the North by seeking to conciliate the 
South on the slaveholding question, he had denounced the 
giant evil, alike as a political and moral sin ; while he well 
knew what the sentiment of his own New England, and 
indeed of the whole North, was in regard to it — a sentiment 
that would make no concession to it or tolerate its exten- 
sion in any new State or annexed territory. To turn now, 
as he did, and asperse antislavery principles and traduce 
as "mischievous marplots" those who were loud in their 
denunciation of the evil, was a shock to the intellect and 
conscience of the Northern people; though, with old-time 
vigor and eloquence, he patriotically denounced disunion, 
and continued to the last to insist upon the integrity of the 
nation and uncompromising loyalty to the Constitution. On 
this strong ground Mr. Webster was immovable as a rock, 



go DANIEL WEBSTER. 

for he saw that secession was incompatable with national 
existence, and if the nation must suffer its integrity to be 
shaken and disunion played with, the whole had better go 
and disruption and dismemberment be accepted as the death 
of the Republic. Only on this view can we understand 
the great statesman's attitude in making the "Seventh of 
March speech;" since to him conciliation and the Clay 
Compromise were the only acceptable overtures to silence 
Abolitionism, and sectional animosities, obviate war, and 
thus save and perpetuate the Nation. 

But it is time to return to the chief incidents in Mr. 
Webster's career, and to note, after some months' sojourn 
in England in 1838, his appointment, in 1841, as Secretary 
of State in President Harrison's Cabinet. Mr. Webster's 
management of the affairs of this important office was char- 
acterized by ability and good sense. The chief feature of 
his administration of the post was the adjustment with 
England, by the Ashburton Treaty, of boundary matters on 
the line dividing the United States from the British Amer- 
ican provinces, or, more specifically, between Canada and 
Maine. (The more complicated Oregon boundary question, 
it may here be said, was for the time settled four years later, 
viz., in 1846). Arbitration as a mode of settlement in the 
matter of the Maine boundary had previously been tried 
and had failed, until the appearance at Washington of the 
English plenipotentiary, Lord Ashburton, who jointly with 
Mr. Webster brought the question happily to a settle- 
ment. Other provisions of this treaty included an agree- 
ment for the suppression of the slave trade on the coast 
of Africa, and also for the mutual extradition of fugitives 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 81 

from justice. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrison, who held the 
Presidency for one month only, died in April, 1841, and was 
succeeded in the office by Vice-President Tyler, who in- 
duced Mr. Webster to continue, in his administration, his 
duties as State-Secretary. This he did ; but party cabals 
and other political dissensions led Mr. Webster, in the 
Spring of 1843, t0 resign his post and retire for a time 
to his attractive home at Marshfield, Mass. 

Here he was glad to rest for a time, for his life had 
been a busy and wearying one ; moreover, he was a sufferer 
from hay fever, and had many personal disappointments 
to vex and embitter him, as well as considerable domestic 
affliction, to wean him from the world, its sorrows and its 
strifes. To add further to his personal bereavements, death 
in 1847 t0 °k from him a favorite daughter, and also a son, 
who was killed in the Mexican war. The Fates also were 
unkind to him and his ambitions in the matter of the Presi- 
dency, a prize upon which he had long set his heart, only 
to be mocked by repeated and cruel disappointments. Even 
the appointment on an embassy to England, which he de- 
sired to have, was denied him ; while the many who had 
once acclaimed him, and not a few of the friends who had 
long stood by him, had become alienated and forgetful of 
his great and manifold public services. To many less 
spoiled by success than was Daniel Webster, these disap- 
points after a great career and a long, lauded life, now 
bordering on the grave, would have come as bitter and de- 
pressing assaults on one's magnanimity and amour propre. 
It would be untrue to say that he did not feel these mis- 
chances of fortune, or that his great soul was untouched 



8 2 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

by their ungracious and unkindly stings ; he did not, how- 
ever, publicly resent them, still less whine at the disaffection 
and the injury done him. It saddened him, no doubt, to 
see little men put in high places who were comparatively 
unknown, who had done little for their kind, had not a 
tithe of his gifts, and were far his inferiors in those re- 
splendent virtues which he ever manifested and which shed 
a lustre on his time — of disinterested patriotism and abound- 
ing love of country. Turning from this neglect and dis- 
appointment, he could hardly fail, however, to be inwardly 
consoled by the consciousness of having nobly and faith- 
fully served the nation he loved, and done much to commend 
his memory to those who can and do appreciate his work, 
revere him for his services, and extol and admire his 
genius. 

The nomination for the Presidency in 1844 brought Mr. 
Webster once more into public view, in taking part in the 
fray. At that time the expectant candidate was Tyler, who 
sought re-election but failed to secure it; the others were 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who represented the Whig in- 
terest, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, who was the 
standard-bearer of the Democrats. Though he did not like 
the man, Mr. Webster favored Clay and gave him his sup- 
port, on account of the principles he represented ; but Polk, 
who had been Speaker in the House of Representatives, 
and was a slave-owner, won the election a.nd was installed 
in office. Meanwhile, Mr. Webster, who had regained his 
relish for the political strife and turmoil of the time, ac- 
cepted once more a seat in the Senate and took his place 
there in 1845. In the following year, trouble broke out 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 83 

with Mexico, over the question of the proper limit of that 
Republic and that of Texas, and through its own heedless- 
ness and bravado it provoked war with the United States. 
The war was one really of conquest and for the acquisition 
of territory, and as such it was opposed by Mr. Webster, 
in his loyal contention that it was a wrong done to the Con- 
stitution. It however brought about the cession to the 
United States of all the territory north of the Rio Grande, 
and added to the Union a wide area of country, including 
New Mexico and California. At the same time, by its vic- 
tories to our arms, it brought prominently into public notice 
the achievements of General Zachary Taylor and Winfield 
Scott, the former of whom was by the election of 1848 made 
President, while the latter had the honor of nomination, 
though unsuccessful in his candidature, to the chief mag- 
istracy four years later. 

At both of these periods of election, Mr. Webster's name 
was brought forward, in 1848 as the nominee with Taylor, 
though he refused to allow his name to appear for the 
subordinate place in the race; and in 1852, when he was 
beaten by General Scott for the Whig nomination as Presi- 
dent, after fifty-two successive ballots had been cast. As 
it happened, neither of the men won, victory being snatched 
by the Democrats, who carried into the high office the then 
little known Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, who had 
been a general in the Mexican war. These repeated slights 
cast upon Mr. Webster, as we have already stated, were 
keenly felt by him, and especially this last one, since he 
had allowed himself to feel certain at length of grasping 
the prize. Just then, however, in the midst of the anti- 



8 + DANIEL WEBSTER. 

slavery outburst of the time and the recent passing of the 
hateful Fugitive Slave law, which permitted slave-owners 
to recover runaway slaves, Mr. Webster's hope of winning 
the Presidency must have been extremely slight, particu- 
larly in view of his own conciliatory attitude towards slavery 
and the South. 

Meanwhile, the Presidential chair was filled by Millard 
Fillmore, who as Vice-President under Zachary Taylor 
had succeeded the latter on that President's death, in July, 
1850. By Mr. Fillmore. Webster had been offered and 
had accepted the Secretaryship of State in his administra- 
tion, and in doing so had retired from his seat in the Sen- 
ate. Just previous to this, he had delivered in the Senate 
his much misinterpreted "Seventh-of-March speech," which 
though spoken in behalf of Conciliation and to prevent fur- 
ther irritation of the South and the precipitation of Seces- 
sion, was of course taken as a compromise with slavery, in 
spite of the fact that the existence of the institution was 
recognized and tolerated by the Constitution. It is true, 
the Abolitionists, though laudably in earnest, were then 
most insistent, and even violent, in their denunciations ; 
and public feeling against the evil of slavery was at a high 
pitch of excitement, contributed in no little degree, more- 
over, by Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," published at 
that era. The Southerners, therefore, were in no humor 
to treat with any degree of reason attacks upon their cher- 
ished institution; but, on the contrary, were ugly in their 
mood, going so far as to threaten Secession. Hence, in 
the crisis, Mr. Webster sought by his speech to throw oil 
on the troubled waters and calm the irritation and resent- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 85 

merit of the South. Dismemberment of the nation he could 
not abide, nor, as the patriot he was, even reasonably think 
of, knowing to what it must ultimately lead ; and so, in spite 
of Abolitionist outcries and the tarnishing by them of his 
fair name, he took the ground he did and went on his way, 
disregarding slander and contumely, until the end came, 
which occurred at Marshfield, October 24, 1852. 

Just before this, Mr. Webster had failed in health visibly, 
worn out by labor and by personal ailment, and, perhaps 
saddest of all, depressed by the great disappointment he 
had met with in his honorable ambition to become Presi- 
dent, which, as all know, was not to be. A little while be- 
fore, he had met with a carriage accident, which painfully 
injured and weakened him ; and so we find him at his loved 
home making his will and reverently writing out some 
record of his religious belief, which he desired to be affixed 
to a tablet over his grave. He died in the faith of a Chris- 
tian, and his mortal remains, as they were borne to the tomb, 
received the tributes of a lamenting but greatly admiring 
people. Thus placidly passed this eminent statesman and 
eloquent orator from the scenes of earth, owning his faith 
in a loving Redeemer, and confidingly trusting that in the 
Great Assize every act of his will be justly understood, and 
every motive considerately weighed and appraised. 



86 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF DANIEL WEBSTER, 

TRIBUTE TO HIS FATHER. 
It will be remembered that during the Harrison cam- 



*?5 



paign, as during that of Lincoln, much prominence was 
given to the humble birth of the candidate. In Webster's 
address at Saratoga in behalf of the Whigs, he said: 

"It did not happen to me gentlemen to be born in a 
log cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters were born in 
a log cabin, raised among the snow drifts of New Hamp- 
shire, at a period so early, that when the smoke first rose 
from its rude chimney, and curled over the frozen hills, 
there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation 
between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. 

"Its remains still exist. I make to it an annual visit, I 
carry my children there, to tell them of the hardships en- 
dured by the generations which have gone before them. 
I love to dwell upon the tender recollections, the kindred 
ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and 
incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive 
family abode. 

"And if ever I am ashamed of it,or if ever I fail in affect- 
ionate veneration for him who reared it, defended it against 
savage violence, and destruction, — who cherished all do- 
mestic virtues beneath its roof, if ever I fail in affect- 
ionate veneration for him, who through the fire and blood 
of a seven years Revolutionary war, shrunk from no dan- 
ger, no toil, no sacrifice, to serve his country and to raise 
his children to a condition better than his own — may my 
name be blotted forever from the memory of mankind." 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 87 

METHODS OF EBENEZER WEBSTER. 

During the war of the Revolution, Captain Webster 
was appointed one of the committee to ascertain how much 
each townsman of Salisbury ought to contribute toward 
the expenses of the war, and to levy a proportionate tax. 

The richest man in town, had done no military duty, 
but nevertheless he declared that his assessment was too 
high, and he refused to pay it. The committee waited 
upon him in vain, but at last Webster as their spokesman 
drew his six feet of stature up to its full height, while his 
wonderful black eyes seemed to fairly look through the 
man, and with a strong emphasis in his sonorous voice, 
he said: 

"Sir, our authorties require us to pay, and fight. Now 
you must pay or fight. " 

The man looked at the powerful figure before him, and 
gave a single glance into the flashing eyes, and this was 
sufficient, he very promptly decided to pay. 

WEBSTER'S MOTHER. 

The mother of Daniel Webster was another instance in 
illustration of the theory that "the more mother a man 
has in him, the better he is." 

She was of sturdy New England stock, rich in affection, 
Christian faith and sterling common sense. Always be- 
lieving in her boy she tenderly cherished him during a 
feeble childhood in the firm faith that a long and useful 
life lay before him. 

It was thought at one time that the ocean air might 
do him good and although the nearest coast was a long 



88 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



way off, the undaunted mother took her puny babe in her 
arms and made the journey on horseback even though 
it took several days to accomplish it. 

Webster used often to repeat this story and sometimes 
he would exclaim, "There was a mother for you!" 

HOW THE STUDENTS HOOTED WEBSTER. 

James Russell Low- 
ell and some other 
young students of 
American politics 
did not approve of 
Webster's course in 
remaining in the cab- 
inet of President Ty- 
ler. William Wet- 
more Story tells of 
their indignation and 
resolutions concern- 
ing the matter in 
the following words: 
"James Lowell 
and I were very an- 
gry with Webster, 
and as he was to speak in Faneuil Hall the evening of 
the 30th of September, 1842, some of us determined to 
go in from the Harvard law school, and hoot at him, to 
show him that he had incurred our displeasure. 

"There were about three thousand people present, and 
we felt sure that they would hoot with us, young as we 




James Russell Lowell. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 89 

were. But we reckoned without our host. Mr. Web- 
ster stepped forward. His great eyes looked, as I shall 
always think, straight at me. I pulled off my hat. 
James pulled off his. We both became as cold as ice, 
and as respectful as Indian coolies. I saw James turn 
pale. He said I was livid. And when that great crea- 
ture began that most beautiful exordium, our scorn 
turned to deepest admiration — from abject contempt, to 
belief and approbation." 

ROMAN MATRONS. 

Speaking one day, of the early Romans, Mr. Webster 
said that he could almost believe everything related by 
historians of their extraordinary virtues, public and do- 
mestic, when he dwelt upon the fact that though their 
laws authorized divorce, yet for the first five hundred 
years, no individual ever availed himself of such a license. 

"It was the domestic training" he said; "It was the 
mothers who made a Publicola, a Camillus, and Coriola- 
nus. Women protected by the inviolability of the nup- 
tial bond, were invested with a dignity that gave author- 
ity to instruction, and made the domestic hearth the nur- 
sery of heroes. 

"Public virtue," he said, "fell with private morality. 
Under imperial Rome, divorces were sought for, and ob- 
tained under the most frivolous pretexts, and all domes- 
tic confidence was destroyed. The inevitable consequence 
was the loss of all public morality. Men who had been 
false to their private obligations, would not be true to 
their public duties; Caesar divorced his wife, and betrayed 



9 o DANIEL WEBSTER. 

his country. The sanctity of the nuptial bond, is, in 
my opinion, one of the principal, if not the chief cause 
of the superior refinement, freedom, and prosperity en- 
joyed at the present time by Christian nations." 

LITERARY STYLE. 

In reply to the question concerning the formation of 
his literary style, Daniel Webster answered: "When I 
was a young man, a student in college, I delivered a Fourth 
of July oration. My friends thought so well of it that 
they requested a copy of it for the press. 

"It was printed, and Joseph Denuie, a writer of great 
reputation at that time, wrote a review of it. He praised 
parts of the oration as vigorous and eloquent; but other 
parts, he criticised severely and said that they were mere 
emptiness. 

"I thought his criticism was just, and I resolved that 
whatever else should be said of my style, from that time 
forth, there would be no emptiness in it. 

"I read such English authors as fell in my way — par- 
ticularly Addison, with great care. Besides I remembered 
that I had to earn my bread by addressing the understand- 
ing of common men — by convincing juries, and that I 
must use language perfectly intelligible to them. You 
will find therefore, in my speeches to juries, no hard 
w r ords, no Latin phrase. 

"I early felt the importance of thought. I have rewrit- 
ten sentence after sentence and pondered long upon each 
alteration. For depend upon it, it is with our thoughts 
as with our persons — their intrinsic value is mostly un- 
dervalued unless expressed in attractive garb. 














(fet-ijL. , 4^C C?S 





*£ <5Us£- 



f^» 



Csii^cy? /<-*-i 



c£j* a^/i. 






^ £l <t«~~* Cttux^jZ) <&£*. 



< ]«ju L <* f-^~*-.-<s<SLJ 



/? 









Reduced Fac-Simile of the Original Manuscript of Webster's Speech in 

the Senate Regarding the Reduction of the Supreme and 

Circuit Judges of the U. S. Courts. 



9 2 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



"Longinus tells us that the most sublime passage to be 
found in any language is this : 'And God said, Let there 
be light and there was light' — the greatest effort of pow- 
er in the tersest and fewest words — the command and the 
record, one exertion of thought. So should we all aim- 
to express things in words." 

Again he says : "From the time that at my mother's 
feet, or on my father's knees I first learned to lisp verses 
from the Sacred Writings, they have been my daily study 
and vigilant contemplation. 

"If there be anything in my style or thoughts worthy to 
be commended, the credit is due to my parents, for in- 
stilling into my mind an early love for the scriptures." 

FAVORITE STUDIES. 

Air. Webster was fond of some of the Latin authors, and 
one day he read to his friend Professor Felton several 
pages from Cicero's Dc Natura Dcontin. He chose that 
portion of the dialogue in which one of the speakers 
discourses most eloquently on the Divine Being, and in 
refutation of the Epicurean philosophy. 

"The deep feeling, and the earnest tone," writes Felton, 
"with which he read the harmonious Latin sentences of 
the great Roman gave the fullest meaning to these im- 
mortal speculations ; and recommending the passage to 
the careful study of his guest, he closed the volume and 
retired." 

In subsequent conversation, Mr. W T ebster spoke of his 
love of science, and the attention he had bestowed upon 
it, in the fragments of time snatched from other and more 
absorbing pursuits. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 93 

His knowledge of geology was quite extensive, and he 
had studied the principal works on this subject in connec- 
tion with trips which were made through interesting ge- 
ological regions. He had also employed a competent 
scholar to make a collection of specimens for him, arrang- 
ing them on the shelves in the order of the successive 
layers of the crust of the earth, in order that while study- 
ing in his library, he might see before him the arrange- 
ment of Nature. 

Among the books which occupied his thoughts largely 
during the last year of his life, Humboldt's "Cosmos" held 
a prominent place. He had read it through, carefully 
noting its contents. He quoted passages from it, with 
expressions of admiration for their scientific precision and 
poetic beauty. His general remarks upon the plan and 
details of the work, showed that he fully appreciated it. 

He spoke with regret of the fact that he had so seldom 
enjoyed for any length of time, the society of scientific 
and literary men. "I have kept very bad company," he 
laughingly said, "I have lived among lawyers, and judges, 
jurymen and politicians, when I should have lived with 
Nature and in company with students of Nature." 

FORGIVENESS. 

Mr. Webster's secretary, G. J. Abbott, while with him 
at Marshfield during his last illness, writes to a friend 
under date of September 12, of a stormy Sunday in the 
great house. 

"This day has been stormy, and we did not go to 
church. This morning, when Mr. and Mrs. Webster, 



94 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

with their guests and servants, had assembled in the li- 
brary for family prayers, Mr. Webster looked so weak and 
feeble that, Mrs. Webster asked if I should not read the 
chapter. 

"He preferred reading himself,and selected that beauti- 
ful chapter of St. Luke, the sixth, which contains a part 
of the Sermon on the Mount. His reading of the Scrip- 
tures is grand, slow, distinct, impressive, giving new force 
to every sentence. 

"When he came to those verses which follow the twenty- 
sixth, it seemed as if they were the expression of his 
own inmost feelings. 

"After each clause of these verses which he read — "But 
I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good 
to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and 
pray for them which despitefully use you" — he paused, 
as if he were asking himself the question, whether he 
read these words, in the spirit of Him who first uttered 
them, and exhibited in his own life and example, their 
practical application. 

"There was a triumphant tone, as he finished the 
verses, as though he had heartily forgiven those who had 
spoken ill of him, and who had despitefully used him. 
I was particularly struck by it as several of the Whig 
papers have been abusing him in very coarse terms, and 
he had doubtless seen them. 

"You have often heard me speak of his courtesy both 
in the Senate, and the Department, to those who were 
politically opposed to him, and of the directions which 
he so frequently gave to those who were intrusted with 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 95 

the preparation of his works for the press to omit or 
modify, where it could be done with propriety, all those 
passages in which he had spoken of others with undue 
severity — giving as a reason that he did not wish to per- 
petuate the remembrance of unpleasant personal, or par- 
ty contests. 

"Even after the disappointment of his hopes at Balti- 
more, he has never permitted himself to speak harshly or 
unkindly of those from whom he had a right to expect 
support. He has rarely alluded to the doings of the con- 
vention, or of those who took part in them. The sever- 
est expression which I ever heard him use in regard to 
them was, 'I shall be in— soon, and shall see these gen- 
tlemen, and think it is about time to shake hands with 
some of them and part; with others, I can part without 
shaking hands.' 

"But of one for whom he had always manifested a pa- 
ternal regard, whose course had bitterly disappointed 
him, he remarked with deepest emotion, 'That cut me 
to the heart.' " 

WEBSTER AND PINKNEY. 

William Pinkney was the acknowledged head, and 
leader of the American bar, when Webster was admitted 
to practice before the Supreme Court at Washington. 
Like many another great man he had been largely 
spoiled by praise, and by the fact that when the lesser 
lights had very important cases before the Supreme 
Court, they would employ him to take their briefs, and 
argue their cases — they doing the work, and he getting 
the greater portion of the reward. 



96 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

He probably expected Webster to pursue the same 
course, but he went along the even tenor of his way, 
pleading his own cases, until Pinkney began to treat him 
with contempt, which was scarcely veiled even in the 
presence of the judges of that august tribunal. 

In one case where Pinkney was against him, this inso- 
lence of manner and speech became more pronounced, so 
much so, that Webster had hard work to control his tem- 
per even in court. He did so however, the incident was 
passed, but the case was not finished, when the court 
was adjourned until the next morning. 

Mr. Pinkney who was somewhat dudish in his dress, 
took his whip and gloves, threw his handsome cloak over 
his arm and began to saunter away, when Webster went 
up to him, and said very calmly, "Can I see you alone in 
one of the lobbies?" 

He replied, "Certainly," probably thinking that the 
time had come when he was to be sought for help, as his 
great position demanded. 

They passed to one of the grand jury rooms, which 
was remote from the main court room, and finding it emp- 
ty, went in. Unobserved by Pinkney, Webster turned 
the key and taking it out of the lock, placed it in his 
pocket. Then advancing toward him, he said: 

"Mr. Pinkney, you grossly insulted me this morning in 
the court room, and not for the first time, either. In 
deference to your position, and to the respect which I 
have for the court, I did not answer you on the spot, as 
I was tempted to do." 

He began to deny it, but Webster continued; "You 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 97 

know you did — dont add another sin to that. Don't deny 
it; you know you did it, and you know it was premedi- 
tated. It was deliberate, it was purposely done, and if 
you deny it, you tell an untruth.'' 

"Now," he continued, "I am here to say to you once 
for all, that you must ask my pardon, and go into court 
tomorrow, and repeat the apology, or else, either you or I, 
will go out of this room in a different condition from that 
in which we entered it." 

Pinkney looked up into the blazing eyes, he quickly 
took in the magnificent physical proportions of the man 
before him, and trembling, attempted again to explain. 

"There is no other course," said Webster, "I have the 
key of this room in my pocket, and you must apologize 
or take what I give you." 

The apology now was promptly made, and the promise 
was reluctantly given that it would be repeated in court 
the next morning, then Webster unlocked the door and 
they passed out. 

He did make the promised apology in public and be- 
fore the Judges of the Supreme Court, after which he 
treated Daniel Webster with the greatest respect and 
consideration. 

WEBSTER AND VAN BUREN. 

Mr. Webster always treated the bench with that studied 
deference which judges, by virtue of their position have 
a right to expect from attorneys. On one occasion, when 
he was engaged in a case in a New York court he was 
preceded by John Van Buren. 

In the course of his speech Van Buren, rather flippant- 



98 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ly congratulated the court on "yielding to the popular im 
pulses of the day." 

Webster began his address by complimenting his op- 
ponent on "the talent and legal knowledge of his ad- 
dress," but went on to speak with strong disapprobation 
of Mr. Van Buren's remark about "yielding to popular 
impulses." "This," said he, "may be a compliment; but 
it is a compliment, which I would not address to this 
court, nor to any other, for which I entertained feelings 
of respect." 

JUSTICE. 

Webster was fair with his opponents, and accorded 
them their dues in private as well as upon the rostrum. 

"Rusk of Texas," he said "I consider the strongest man 
in the United States on the Democratic side. He is no 
spouter, but he acts, and you can rely on what he says. 

"He will stand without being tied, and you will find 
him where you left him. He has all of Achilles' hatred 
of double dealing. 

"He who can think one thing, and another tell, 
My soul detests him as the gates of hell." 

"It is impossible continued Webster for me to feel the 
least acerbity toward such men as Rusk, Cass, Foote and 
Dickenson. 

We have stood by each other in a time of greatest mo- 
ment to myself, as well as of danger to the Union of these 
States, shoulder to shoulder, I can never forget or refuse 
to acknowledge their important and vital aid." 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 99 

WEBSTER INTRODUCED TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Fortunately the Great Expounder has left an authentic 
record of the earlier years and beginnings of his life. How, 
then, did he first hear of that constitution which he so 
eloquently expounded and defended! In the young boy- 
hood days of Daniel Webster, cotton cloth was cheaper than 
paper and the manufacturers of that time, who were patriots 
as well as business men, were in the habit of printing upon 
handkerchiefs such documents as the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, Washington's Farewell Address and the Consti- 
tution of the United States. All country storekeepers car- 
ried quite a line of these printed cotton handkerchiefs, and 
Daniel's father, good sturdy legislator, judge and citizen 
that he was, heartily approved of such business methods. 
Now, when pale, studious little Daniel, with the large head 
and the wonderful eyes, was about eight years old, he had 
collected twenty-five cents by helping his father at the old 
sawmill, or by choring around the house. Chancing one 
day to wander into the little shop kept by the schoolmaster 
of Salisbury, William Hoyt, he saw among a varied assort- 
ment of articles, a small cotton pocket handkerchief with 
printing on its two sides. Liking its general appearance he 
bought it. "From this," he says, "I learned either that there 
was a constitution, or that there were thirteen states. I re- 
member to have read it, and have known more or less of it 
ever since." Speaking of the man who thus first threw the 
constitution in his way, Mr. Webster adds that "he was an 
austere man, but a good teacher of children. He had been 
a printer in Newburyport, wrote a very fair hand, was a 
good .reader and did teach boys that which so few masters 



IOO DANIEL WEBSTER. 

can or will do, to read well themselves. Beyond this, and 
perhaps a very slight knowledge of grammar, his attain- 
ments did not extend. He rather loved money, of all the 
cases of nouns preferring the possessive." 

PREFERS WHORTLEBERRYING TO HAYING. 

Now, although Daniel was a whole-souled boy and after- 
ward proved to be upon several occasions the mainstay of 
his father's finances, he did not like the grind of farm- 
work. This dislike grew upon him as he entered the heroics 
of the Greek and Latin classics, in preparation for college. 
When he was fifteen and attending Dr. Wood's academy, 
at Boscawen, six miles from home, his father sent for him 
in haying time. Like a good son he came, his father put- 
ting him into a field to turn hay and leaving him there. 
After working some time, Daniel found it pretty lonesome 
and very dull. So he walked home and asked his sister 
Sally if she did not want to go whortleberrying. She did, 
of course. So her big brother got some horses, saddled 
them, and the two had a good time berrying until late at 
night. Daniel went to bed before his father's return and 
when he awoke the next morning found all the clothes he 
had brought from Dr. Wood's tied up in a small bundle 
again. His father asked him how he liked haying and 
Daniel told him that he "found it pretty dull and lonesome 
3 esterday." 

"Well," said the father. "I believe you may as well go 
back to Dr. Woods." 

So the boy took his bundle under his arm, meeting on his 
way a village lawyer who knew Daniel and his father well. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 101 

The attorney laughed heartily when he saw the demure 
Daniel and learned of his destination. "So," said he, "your 
farming is over, is it?" 

The truth of the matter was that Judge Webster had 
come to believe with his good wife that Daniel would sure- 
ly "come to something or nothing," and all through life his 
plan was to lay courses of action before him rather than 
to advise a choice. So the boy went back to Dr. Woods 
and a few months thereafter was a freshman at Dartmouth 
college. 

HOW DANIEL WENT HUNTING. 

The mixture of intellectuality and love of mother earth 
was a fortunate combination in Daniel Webster's make-up, 
insuring that richness and strength which marked his ma- 
turity. This close and intense contact with nature not only 
was a continuous charging of his body with vigor, but with 
that electrical something which reacts upon the entire tem- 
perament and permeates it with a mysterious combination 
of soul and body known as fascination, and which Daniel 
Webster, from infancy to death, possessed in a superlative 
decree. His able and conscientious tutor, the Dr. Woods 
already mentioned, failed to see in this earthy tendency of 
his brilliant pupil a saving grace, for the lack of which not 
a few delicate minds and souls are doomed to decay before 
they become ripe. Upon one occasion he scolded the boy 
for roving too much over the hills and along the streams 
with his gun and rod. He admitted that Daniel was smart, 
but this would never do ; the reverend tutor did not feel 
justified in taking a dollar a week for fitting him for col- 
lege and allowing him to waste so much time away from 



I 02 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

his books. The scholar took the reprimand in the even 
fashion which was characteristic, but instead of arguing 
the matter doubtless determined, through his own devices 
and with his master's consent, to rub up against the old 
life-giving hills the very next day. Dr. Woods had an en- 
gagement for the following morning. That Daniel knew. 
His task for the morning was one hundred lines of Virgil. 
He sat up the entire night studying, although marvelous 
stories are told of his memory and general mental aptness. 
The recitation hour at length arrived and Daniel spun off 
his hundred lines in a way which earned him high praise. 

The Doctor arose to fill his engagement. 

"But T have a few more lines that I can recite," said the 
boy Daniel. 

"Well, let us have them," replied the Doctor; and forth- 
with the boy reeled off another hundred lines. 

"Very remarkable," said the Doctor. "You are indeed a 
smart boy." 

"But I have another," continued the scholar, "and five 
hundred of them, if you please." 

The Doctor was astonished, but became more and more 
uneasy about his engagement. He therefore begged to 
be excused and concluded, to Daniel's great satisfaction, 
"You may have the whole day, Dan, for pigeon-shooting." 

The above is on the authority of Charles Lanman, for 
many years the great statesman's intimate friend and pri- 
vate secretary. 

MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY OF TWO. 

While practicing law in Portsmouth, at the outset of his 
legal career, Mr. Webster's strongest competitor was Jere- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 103 

miah Mason, perhaps then the leader of the New Hamp- 
shire bar and one of the greatest criminal lawyers in the 
country. They were lifelong friends, despite this early 
legal rivalry, and each had unbounded admiration for the 
other's powers. Years after, when Mr. Webster had known 
Choate and Pinckney and Marshall and other brilliant and 
profound men, he wrote of his friend: "If there be in the 
country a stronger intellect, if there be a mind of more 
native resources, if there be a vision that sees quicker, or 
sees deeper into whatever is intricate, or whatsoever is pro- 
found, I must confess I have not known it." In fact, the 
nine years that the young and the older lawyer crossed the 
lances of the law at Portsmouth marked a period of disci- 
pline for at least Daniel Webster, and went far toward cul- 
ling away the redundancy of his collegiate style of oratory 
and fashioning it to the concise, solid, mighty Anglo-Saxon 
swing which afterward did so much to bring him fame. 
It was during this formative period of his life that a gen- 
tleman called upon Webster to engage his professional ser- 
vices. Being unable to take any more cases he referred the 
man to Mr. Mason. Asked concerning the abilities of the 
latter, the young lawyer answered that he considered them 
second to none in the country. The gentleman thereupon 
called upon Mr. Mason and engaged him. Feeling curious 
to know Mr. Mason's opinion of Mr. Webster, he put the 
question. "He's the very devil in any case whatever," re- 
plied Mr. Mason, "and if he's against you, I beg to be ex- 
cused." 



104 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

NEVER KNEW THE VALUE OF MONEY (?). 

So Daniel Webster never knew the value of money ! The 
statement has been made so many times, without the quali- 
fying" "so" and the implied doubt marked by the interjec- 
tion, that it has been accepted as a self-evident truth. It 
is known that although he was the owner of two great 
farms in the East and invested extensively in Western 
lands, having, in fact, the ambition to become an agricul- 
tural lord of the West, he generally kept his accounts in 
his head or on floating scraps of paper, having only a gen- 
eral idea of his own financial status. 

When Webster was first proposed for Congress in 1813, 
he was still a young, brilliant, struggling lawyer, too poor 
as he at first thought to accept the honor. Through his 
friend, Judge Smith, of the New Hampshire Superior 
Court, he declined it and left Exeter for his home in Ports- 
mouth. On his way he changed his mind, writing to his 
judicial friend and admirer, "As to the law, I must attend 
to that, too. But honor, after all, is worth more than 
money." 

"The impudent dog that he is," said Judge Smith after- 
wards. "He does not know the value of money and never 
will. No matter ; he was born for something better than 
hoarding money-bags." 

As bearing out Judge Smith's statement, Judge Liver- 
more, another friend and former Chief Justice of the New 
Hampshire State Supreme Court, relates an incident which 
fell in this period of Webster's first Congressional term, 
when his dear legal mentor, Jeremiah Mason, was also a 
member of the upper house. It seems that he and Mr. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 105 

Mason carried their families with them and, boarding to- 
gether, kept a carriage between them. It was necessary to 
erect a small building for the vehicle, and at the close of 
the session the landlord told Mr. Webster that the shed 
must be removed, as the room was wanted for other pur- 
poses in the summer. 

"Well," said W'ebster, "remove it when you please. It 
is of no further use to us. If it is worth anything to you, 
you are welcome to it." 

The landlord overwhelmed him with thanks for his liber- 
ality, and was about leaving the room, when it occurred to 
Mr. Webster that the building belonged in part to Mr. 
Mason. He therefore told the man to go for Mr. Mason's 
orders on the subject. 

"You may take down the shed," said the latter and sell 
the materials either at auction or private sale and account 
to me for the proceeds. But this is no time to dispose of it 
to advantage, when everybody is selling out at the close of 
the session. Wait awhile till it will bring a fair price and 
I will settle with you for it next winter." 

Judge Livermore thus pointed the moral : "Here was a 
fair sample of Webster's carelessness and Mason's prudence 
—of Webster's liberality and Mason's thrift. Webster 
thought nothing of a few old joists and boards, which 
having served his purpose were to be thrown aside as worth- 
less. Mason not only thought of what they were worth, 
but when they could be sold to the best advantage. The 
anecdote is characteristic of the men — the one careless or 
indifferent in money matters ; the other not mean or sordid, 
but aware of his rights and attentive to his interests." 



io6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

In this sense, to say nothing of hoarding bags of gold, 
Webster never knew the value of money ; but if the value 
of money consists in doing all you can with it to forward 
the happiness of those around you ; to oil the creaking, 
groaning wheels of poverty and misfortune ; to use it in 
such a way that thousands will echo the murmur of the poor 
rustic over the bier of the careless giant, "Daniel Webster, 
the world, without you, will seem lonesome" — if the value of 
money consists in making it a medium of peace on earth and 
good will to men, then Daniel Webster knew its value fully. 

REHEARSES HIS BUNKER HILL SPEECH. 

By. his own admission, many of Webster's celebrated 
speeches were prepared amid woods, mountains and streams. 
His first and most famous Bunker Hill address was born in 
great part while he was wading through a rapid trout stream, 
known as Marshpee River, near his Marshfield home. Its 
high steep banks are thickly wooded, and the only way to 
catch trout is to wade and angle for them under the banks. 
One day after Mr. Webster had been invited to deliver the 
address, his eldest son Fletcher and another fellow fisher- 
man were wading through this picturesque stream, when 
the two noticed that the usually skillful statesman angler 
was allowing his hook to be caught by overhanging twigs 
or floating grass and, by his indifference and carelessness, 
quite destroying his fame as a fisherman. With his head 
well up so that he appeared to be gazing at the overhanging 
trees, Mr. Webster now advanced one foot through the 
foaming water, extended his right hand and impressively 
said : "Venerable men ! vou have come down to us from a 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 107 

former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened 
out you lives that you might behold this joyous day." 

It was upon this occasion of the dedication of Bunker 
Hill monument that he also delivered the address of wel- 
come to LaFayette. The day before he was out in his fish- 
ing yacht with some friends. Luck had been against the 
fishermen until Mr. Webster hooked a massive cod, and as 
he hauled it in he exclaimed heartily, "Welcome ! all hail ! 
and thrice welcome, citizen of two hemispheres!" 

WEBSTER AS A COMMON CARRIER. 

A mark of genius of the versatile kind is adaptability, 
the result of fine sympathy, and that Webster possessed in 
a large degree. His whole soul was, as a rule, with the 
present and the people around him. In the home circle his 
laugh was hearty, boyish and contagious, and even when his 
wonderful lips were closed, his luminous eyes and kindly 
smile were loadstones which none could resist. At Mans- 
field he was the farmer, with slouch hat and loose coat ; the 
stiff dignity and frock coat of the Senate had been neatly 
shed. Both here and at Elms Farm, affairs political were 
never discussed. He was either a statesman, a farmer or 
an angler, but never a composite, and, like an epicure, relig- 
iously declined to mix his courses. This lie did, naturally, 
at the risk of being mistaken by strangers for some minor 
figure in the world, and that risk he readily assumed be- 
cause of the vast amusement which he often derived from 
the situation. 

For many years Mr. Webster's quite constant companion 
at Marshfield, whether hooking cod or shooting ducks, was 
Seth Peterson, a quaint red-faced old salt, a lobster fisher- 



108 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

man by occupation. Seth was generally attired in a dun- 
colored shirt and a patched nondescript pair of pants, the 
weather-beaten condition of his garments corresponding ad- 
mirably with the aspect of his countenance. But he was 
a fine boatman and sportsman with original ideas and a 
vocabulary all his own, so that he and Mr. Webster were 
boon companions, and to see them together a stranger would 
never dream but that they were on a perfect intellectual 
plane. Upon one occasion they were tramping over the 
Marshfield meadows hunting ducks when they met a couple 
of Boston gentlemen who neither wished to get dirty in 
crossing a bog or to use their legs in going around it. Look- 
ing the two supposed rustics well over, the Bostonians fixed 
upon Mr. Webster as the strongest and best natured, offer- 
ing him a quarter of a dollar apiece if he would take them 
across the bog on his back. To this proposition Air. Web- 
ster solemnly agreed and after he had done his work fairly 
as a pack-horse and received his money, his riders inquired 
if "old Webster was at home." They had bagged no game, 
and rather than have the day spoiled entirely the}- would 
honor him with a call. The carrier replied that old Web- 
ster would be at home as soon as he could walk to the 
house and would be glad to see them at dinner. But the 
gentlemen from Boston decided to try their luck further at 
duck-shooting. 

BOTH RELIEVED. 

When Mr. Webster's mind was filled with business of 
statecraft, his expression was sometimes stern and forbid- 
ding; hence, the story told of a night ride by wagon which 



DANIEL WEBSTER. log 

he once took from Baltimore to Washington. The driver 
was a disreputable looking fellow and worked most ter- 
ribly upon his passenger's nerves by telling numerous tales 
of harrowing murders and robberies. At length, as he 
stopped in a dense wood, Mr. Webster's blood was frozen, 
especially as the man turned suddenly upon him with, 
"Now, sir, tell me who you are." 

With his hands upon the sides of the wagon ready for a 
spring, Air. Webster faltered. "I am Daniel Webster, mem- 
ber of Congress from Massachusetts!" 

"What!" the driver replied, grasping him by the hand, 
"are you Webster? Thank God ! Thank God ! You were 
such a deuced ugly-looking chap that I took you for a cut- 
throat." Mutual relief and explanations. 

This is a story that Mr. Webster hugely enjoyed telling. 

PANIC CAUSED BY OFFICE-SEEKER. 

Apropos of Mr. Webster's fixed purpose to bar out all 
political affairs from his home life, is the tale that while off 
Marshfield fishing for mackerel with Commodore Peterson, 
he noticed a stranger sail rapidly bearing down upon them. 
Seth confirmed him in his belief that this was no neighbor- 
hood boat, whereupon Mr. Webster asked his friend how 
their smack could sail the fastest. 

"With her eye toward Halifax," answered Seth. 

"It's a hard case, Skipper," returned Webster. "But head 
her for Halifax as fast as you can, for the master of that 
sail is an office-seeker." 

And as a matter-of-fact it afterwards proved that the 
fears of the Secretary of State were well founded. 



no DANIEL WEBSTER. 

WEBSTER AS A LOVER OF CATTLE. 

Elms Farm was about three miles from Webster's birth- 
place, a hilly, grazing tract of a thousand acres, lying on the 
Merrimack River, with the rugged mountains of New 
Hampshire and Vermont within eyesight. Here was pass- 
ed much of his youthful life. Through the deaths of father 
and brother the farm descended to him. To Elms Farm, to 
its magnificent cattle and to gigantic John Taylor, its warm, 
faithful, practical superintendent and his friend and tenant, 
Daniel Webster often turned wearily from affairs of state. 
The correspondence which passed between the senator and 
his humble tenant is between man and man and throws 
a homely light upon greatness. For instance, while Mr. 
Webster was in the midst of the exciting Harrison cam- 
paign of 1840, burdened with his Senatorial duties, besieged 
on all sides for campaign speeches, slated for a cabinet po- 
sition in case of a Whig victory, and flushed with high suc- 
cess and worldwide popularity, he sits calmly down to write 
this to John Taylor of Elms Farm, Franklin : 

Washington, May 23, 1840. 

Dear Sir: Mr. Samuel Lawrence of Lowell has pre- 
sented to you and me a bull calf, now at Lowell, one month 
old. It is from a full-blooded imported Devonshire bull 
and a fine cow, seven-eighths Devonshire and one-eighth 
Durham. It is bright red, except the top of the tail, which 
is white, and a little white about the forefeet. I wish you 
to send for him, as soon as you receive this. I expect that 
he will make something more than common. The blood is 
excellent for steers and also for milk. He now drinks 
milk — He must be taken up carefully in a cart, well fed 



DANIEL WEBSTER. in 

with milk by the way and have as much milk as he wants 
till I see you. Do not put him to any cow, but give him 
milk in a pail. Send for him as soon as you can. 

I wish I could say when Congress will adjourn. One of 
my first visits when I get to Boston will be to Franklin. Re- 
member the turnips — I will write to Henry W. send you di- 
rections and to Mr. Fletcher to send you up some seed. 
Sow about June 20th — I sow in drills 28 inches apart — that 
admits the plough. Has Seth Weston sent you your plough ? 
— The land should be ploughed just before sowing, the 
seeds soaked, so as to start quick, and then the turnips will 
get ahead of the weeds. I hope you will make the fields 
shine this year. 

We shall write you in season about the horses. 

Yours truly, 

Dan Webster. 

Webster on his part was in the habit of receiving such 
electrical news from John Taylor as the following: 

Sunday Eav., Franklin, May the 2nd, 1852. 
Mr. Webster : 

Dear Sir: Last Friday — the last day of April — I drove 
50, hed of Cattle up, and Turned them into the Punch 
Brook Paster. 

When we let them out of there Several yards, whear thay 
had Bin shet up for six months, it was a great site to be- 
hold, running &, bellering, I never saw creatures appear to 
be so happy. They Run nearly all the way up The sand 
hill, and cept runing till they reached the parster gait — yes- 
terday I drawd up 6 hundred of hay to them, but they would 



,12 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

not Eat it. They ware all ful &, bright. I shal not carry 
them any more hay, unless, we have another cold storm. 
I am, Sir, Your most obedient servant, 

John Taylor. 

From all accounts Daniel Webster's one great mental 
weakness was his spelling, and in John Taylor he had a man 
after his own heart, orthographic, as otherwise. Mr. Tay- 
lor, with all his bad orthography, his crude six feet five 
inches, and a build fitted to cope with the splendid cattle of 
Elms Farm, instinctively knew the way to the heart of Dan- 
iel Webster. At the time the statesman received this raw 
but invigorating picture of his great, eager, happy cattle 
released from their winter bondage, he was Secretary of 
State and a Presidential candidate. Kossuth was the coun- 
try's guest and Webster had done the lion's share in giving 
him an eloquent welcome. But the statesman had long ago 
tired of all earthly honors and craved rest at his Marshfield 
home near the sea or with his herds at Elms Farm, lorded 
over by more than one Hungarian King. For horses and 
i logs he seemed to care little, but had an unbounded admira- 
tion and affection for cattle. In fact, one of the last acts of 
his life was to have his herd of noble creatures driven up 
before the window of his sickroom that he might for a time 
— for the last time — feast his eyes upon them. 

Webster's last hours and religious declarations. 

There was little of that false modesty in Daniel Webster's 
nature, discerned in not a few great men, of evincing a 
dense unconsciousness in regard to his own fame. This 
childish self-depreciation, this pretended ignorance of what 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 113 

the whole world knows, is the most common weakness of 
really great characters. In his last days and latest mo- 
ments on earth Webster showed in every action an honest 
appreciation of his own high place in the world. He was 
as honest in this regard as in all else. He could indulge in 
no theatricals as he approached that eternity and God which 
were such deep-rooted, solemn realities to him. All his ac- 
tions and words were straightforward, simple and affec- 
tionate, and came from the soul ; but underlying them all 
could be discerned this honest, almost outspoken self-con- 
sciousness of a good fight won and a grand fame se- 
cured. In his will, executed a few hours before his death, 
he appointed four literary executors to whom his son was to 
furnish suitable letters, manuscripts and papers relating to 
his private and public life. Although there were many 
passages in his letters and speeches expressing his firm be- 
lief in the existence of God and his faith in the divinity of 
Jesus Christ and immortality beyond the earthly life ; al- 
though there was no intimate friend in his wide circle who 
had not heard fresh from his lips the firmest of assurances 
on these sacred topics, as the end approached he felt it due 
to the memory of Daniel Webster that he should make a 
solemn declaration before witnesses. Posterity should 
never argue or quibble over his attitude toward things di- 
vine. During the last few days of his life his great dread 
was not that he should die but that he should pass away un- 
conscious ; should drop away before he had declared himself 
on the solemn questions of life; should leave this world 
which he so loved unresponsive to the sympathies of those 
near and dear to him. 

With his powerful mind clear almost to the last, he 
closely watched the progress of his own disease and an- 



II 4 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



nounced to his physician the day of his passing. The even- 
ing before his death, having a week previous signed a writ- 
ten statement regarding Christianity which he had dictated 
to his private secretary, he called to his bedside his wife, 
son and other relatives, and several close friends who had 
gathered to bid him God-speed. He then signed his will 
with a strong clear hand, although physically weak, and 
thanked God for strength to do it, as well as for the other 
mercies vouchsafed him. Next he looked inquiringly 
around the room to see that all were there whom he wished 
to hear his words, which were: "My general wish on earth 
has been to do my Maker's will.. I thank Him now for all 
the mercies which surround me. I thank Him for the 
means He has given me of doing some little good ; for my 
children, those beloved objects ; for my nature and associa- 
tions. I thank Him that I am to die, if I am, under so 
many circumstances of love and affection. 

"No man who is not a brute can say that he is not afraid 
of death. No man can come back from that bourne ; no 
man can comprehend the will or the works of God. That 
there is a God all must acknowledge. I see Him in all these 
wondrous works. Himself how wondrous ! 

"The great mystery is Jesus Christ — the Gospel. What 
would be the condition of any of us if we had not the hope 
of immortality ? What ground is there to rest upon but the 
Gospel ? * * * There is, even to the Jews, no direct 
assurance of an immortality in heaven. * * * But, but, 
but thank God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ brought life and 
immortality to light — rescued it — brought it to light. * * 
* Well, T don't feel as if I am to fall off ; I may." 

The dying man then paused, became drowsy and closed 
his eyes, opened them soon, looked eagerly around and 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 115 

asked, "Have I — wife, son, doctor, friends, are you all here? 
— have I, on this occasion, said anything unworthy of Dan- 
iel Webster?" 

"No, no, dear sir," was the response from all. 

He then called his servants to the beside and bade them 
adieu, soothed his wife and suggested that she retire, with 
the others nearest to him, and await the final parting. Soon 
afterwards, attended by the physician only, he ejected a 
great mass of clotted blood from his stomach, said that he 
felt like sinking away and asked "Am I dying?" A little 
stimulant was administered and he revived sufficiently to 
bestow a personal word of parting and benediction upon 
each of his relatives and friends who separately entered the 
room. 

"From this time," says Dr. Warren, one of the attending 
physicians, "he fell into a kind of doze, arousing himself 
occasionally to demand something to relieve him, saying 
'Give me life, give me life ;' evidently feeling as if he might 
fall into a state in which he should be unable to realize the 
passage from life to death. He also asked me once or 
twice 'Am I alive or am I dead.' " It was past midnight 
that he awoke from a fitful slumber, evidently made a strong 
effort to recall himself to consciousness and uttered the 
words distinctly "I still live." These were his last distinct 
words and at twenty-three minutes after three o'clock in 
the morning, at a time when physical man is naturally at 
his lowest ebb, the great heart and brain ceased their work. 

It is indeed fortunate for posterity that Daniel Webster's 
last hours and minutes can be recorded so precisely, his 
religious declaration being taken verbatim by George Tich- 
nor Curtis, a legal friend of many years' standing, one of 
his literary executors, the drafter of his will and the author 
of the first biography of his life which approaches com- 
pleteness. 



i i 6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

STORY OF THE SPANISH CONSUL. 

At the time of the trouble in New Orleans with the 
Spanish consul, Don Calderon de la Barca was the min- 
ister plenipotentiary residing at Washington. 

The controversy had been pretty well settled between 
the two governments by diplomatic notes. Don Calder- 
on, however, seemed to think that he could make him- 
self of considerably more importance by calling on the 
American Secretary of State, and presenting the Spanish 
claim for pecuniary remuneration. In giving his own 
account of the interview, he said: 

"I did call on Mr. Webster. I did make a formal de- 
mand of the United States for pecuniary compensation 
for the losses sustained by the Spanish consul, by the mob. 
I stated my complaint and demand. I did it with pre- 
cision and force. 

"When I got through, what do you think Mr. Webster 
said to me? He rose from his chair, he made me one 
bow, and he said, 'Good morning Don Calderon; Good 
morning Don Calderon; Good Morning' and I did leave 
the room!" 

CONQUERED. 

Had Daniel Webster's dinner conversations been 
faithfully reported the world would have been the gain- 
er, but his inimitable manner, his impersonations of the 
characters in his stories can never be reproduced. 

One thing may be said of him, and that is, that for the 
sake of a witticism, or to illustrate any conversational 
topic, he never quoted or made allusion in any way to 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 117 

the Scriptures. He never spoke of them except with the 
greatest reverence, nor did he tolerate in others jesting 
reference to them, but legitimate themes of mirth were 
readily illumined by his wit. 

He was ever ready with repartee, but one day at din- 
ner he was actually talked down and out by a garrulous 
woman. Exposed to the pitiless storm of her ceaseless 
chatter, Webster for a time bore up bravely, then the 
prespiration started from his forehead and the veins be- 
gan to swell, and he was on the point of leaving the ta- 
ble on plea of sudden indisposition, when his hostess saw 
the situation and signaled for the ladies to leave the 
table. 

Mr. Webster then addressed the gentlemen remaining 
as follows: "My countrymen did you ever see such a 
hurricane of a woman?" 

OPINION OF HENRY CLAY. 

Webster's opinion of his great rival is deeply interest- 
ing. He talked freely of him, and admitted that he did 
not like him. They belonged to the same party, and their 
political ideas harmonized, but these were about the only 
matters concerning which they agreed. 

When Clay was nominated for the Presidency against 
Polk in 1844, Mr. Webster at great inconvenience to him- 
self went to Pennsylvania, and took the stump in his 
behalf. 

A near and dear friend ventured to remark: "I should 
let Mr. Clay get elected in his own way, if I were you." 

"It is not Mr. Clay," he replied, "it is the cause, the 



i i 8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

great cause, the success of which I believe to be for the 
interest of the country. Men are nothing, principles are 
everything. Besides, Mr. Clay is fit to be President, he 
is qualified for the station. His principles are such as I 
approve, and his ability nobody can question. There- 
fore I am bound as an honest man to do everything I 
can. And when I say that, I am perfectly well aware 
that Mr. Clay would not do the same thing for me." 

RECONCILIATION WITH BENTON. 

A year or two before his death, Webster related to a 
friend the circumstances connected with the great change 
in his relations toward Colonel Benton. The two men 
had indulged in many political controversies, and not 
only this, but they were personally antagonistic. It ap- 
pears that for years, while they were members of the 
same body, they had passed in and out at the same door 
without even bowing to each other, and they never had 
any intercourse except such as could not be avoided. 

At the time of the terrible gun explosion on board the 
Princeton during Tyler's administration, Benton was 
on board. He was standing as he said in the very best 
position to witness the experiment when some one 
touched his arm and led him away to speak to him. Ex- 
Governor Gilmer of Virginia, then Secretary of the Navy, 
took his place greatly to his annoyance. 

Just then the gun was fired, the explosion took place, 
and Gilmer was killed as was also Mr. Upshur, the 
Secretary of State, and others. 

Colonel Benton came to Webster and told the story; 



DANIKL WEBSTER. 119 

"It seemed to me," he said, "as if the touch on my shoul- 
der had been the hand of the Almighty drawing me 
away from what otherwise would have been instantane- 
ous death. That one circumstance has changed the 
whole current of my thought and life. I feel that I am 
a different man, and I want in the first place to be at 
peace with all those with whom I have been so sharply 
at variance. And so I have come to you. Let us bury 
the hatchet, Mr. Webster." They shook hands and after 
that, their relations were cordial and pleasant. 

A PEACEMAKER. 

After the reconciliation with Benton, Mr. Webster re- 
ceived a call from a broken clown politician by the name 
of John Wilson, who had decided to move to California. 
He was old and poor, but thought he might still obtain 
something for his family if he could reach the far west, 
and find friends there. He came to Webster for a letter 
of recommendation, knowing that the name of such a 
man would be of value. 

This was in the year of 1847, J ust a ^ ter tne discovery 
of gold in the Golden State, and after Colonel Fremont 
has wrested the state from Mexican rule. This was in- 
deed a great achievement, and Colonel Benton had reas- 
on to be proud of his distinguished son-in-law, even 
though he had incurred his violent rage by eloping with 
"Jessie." 

Fremont's name was in everyone's mouth, and his 
wonderful deeds were the subject of general laudation. 
Everyone going to the Coast was anxious to obtain let- 



izo DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ters to the gallant young officer. Webster said to the 
old man that the best recommendation he could get 
would be a letter from Bentoi 

"Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?" 
enquired the enraged Wilson. "I would not have a let- 
ter from him. I would not speak to him, I would not 
be beholden to him for a favor — not to save the life of 
every member of my family! No, sir! The very thought 
makes me shudder. I feel indignant at the mention of 
it. I take a letter from Benton! I — ." "Stop, stop," said 
W T ebster, "I know how you feel. 1 ' 

And while he continued to rave and protest, W 7 ebster 
was writing a letter to Benton which ran about as fol- 
lows: 

"Dear Sir: — I am well aware of the disputes, personal and politi- 
cal, which have taken place between the bearer of this note, Mr. John 
Wilson, and yourself. 

"But the old gentleman is now poor, and is going to California, 
and needs a letter of recommendation. I know no one there to whom 
I could address a letter, but you know many, and a letter from you 
would do him a great deal of good. 

"I have assured Mr. Wilson that it will do you more good to for- 
get what has passed, and to give him a letter, than it will him to re- 
ceive it. I am going to persuade him to carry you this note, and I 
know you will be glad to see him." 

When Wilson got through protesting, Webster read the 
note to him and said. "I want you to carry this to Ben- 
ton." "I won't," he replied. 

Webster coaxed, scolded, reasoned, and brought every 
consideration, to bear — death, eternity, and everything 
else. But it seemed for a time that it would be of no use. 

After a while however, he softened down and the tears 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 12 1 

flowed, and at last promised, very reluctantly, that he 
would deliver the note at Colonel Benton's door if he 
did no more. He said afterward that it was the bitter- 
est pill he ever swallowed. He delivered the note with 
his own card to the servant at the door, and then hastened 
away to his own lodgings, trembling to think what he had 
done. 

It was hardly an hour before a note came from Benton 
saying he had received the card and the note, and that 
Mrs. Benton and himself would have much pleasure in 
receiving Mr. Wilson at breakfast at nine o'clock the 
next morning. They would wait breakfast for him, and 
no answer was expected. 

"The idea!" he said to himself, "that I am going to 
breakfast with Tom Benton! John Wilson! What will 
people say? And what shall I say? The thing is not to 
be thought of. And yet I must, I have delivered the 
note, and sent my card. If I do not go now, it will be 
rude. It does'nt seem to me as if I could go and sit at 
that table." 

Afterwards he said to Webster, "I lay awase that night 
thinking of it, and in the morning I felt as a man might 
feel who had a sentence of death passed upon him, and 
was called by the turnkey to get up for his last breakfast. 

"I rose, however, made my toilet, and after hesitating a 
great deal, went to Benton's house. My hands trembled 
as I rang the bell. Instead of a servant, the Colonel, him- 
self came to the door. He took me cordially by both 
hands, and said, 'Wilson, I am delighted to see you, this 
is the happiest meeting I have had for twenty years. 



122 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Webster has done the kindest thing he ever did in his 
life.' 

"Leading me directly to the dining room, he presented 
me to Mrs. Benton, and then we sat down to breakfast. 

"After inquiring kindly about my family, he said, 'You 
and I, Wilson, have been quarrelling on the stump for 
twenty years. We have, been calling each other hard 
names, but really with no want of mutual confidence and 
respect. It has been merely a foolish political fight, and 
"let us wipe it out of mind. Every thing that I have said 
about you, I ask your pardon for.' 

"We both cried a little, and I asked his pardon, and 
we were good friends. We talked over old matters, and 
spent the morning until twelve o'clock in pleasant con- 
versation. Nothing was said about the letter until just 
as I was leaving. He then turned to his desk, and said 
'I have prepared some letters for you, to my son-in-law 
and other friends in California,' and he handed me nine 
sheets c f foolscap. 

"It was not a letter, but a command to the effect that 
who ever received them must give special attention to the 
wants of his particular friend, Colonel John Wilson. 
Every thing was to give way to that. He put them in 
my hands, and I thanked him and left." 

"Colonel Benton, "says Webster, "afterward came tome, 
and said, 'Webster that was the kindest thing, you ever 
did. God bless you for sending John Wilson to me. That 
is one troublesome thing off my mind. Let us get these 
things off our minds as fast as we can. We have not 
much longer to stay — we have got pretty near the end. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 123 

Let us go into the presence of our Maker, with as little 
of enmity in our hearts as possible.' " 

And yet after all this, Webster failed to effect a recon- 
ciliation between Benton and Calhoun. Benton said he 
would do any thing else, he would go down to the jail, 
and beg the pardon of a negro confined there if necessary, 
but he would'nt be reconciled to Calhoun. 

"I won't, sir — Calhoun is a humbug. I won't have any- 
thing to do with him. I won' t sir. My mind is made up. 
He is a humbug, and I wont do it sir." — From Harvey's 
"(Reminiscences." 

A GREAT MAN'S GREATEST THOUGHT. 

There was a dinner at the Astor House while Daniel 
Webster was Secretary of State under Fillmore, and 
about twenty gentlemen were present. There had been 
jokes, arguments, and much conversation concerning the 
political questions of the day, but a silence at last fell 
upon the company, and then one of the guests said: 

"Mr. Webster, will you tell us what was the most im- 
portant thought that ever occupied your mind?" 

Webster slowly passed his hand over his forehead, and 
after a moment he answered: "The most important thought 
that ever occupied my mind was that of my individual 
responsibility to God. ' ' And after speaking on this sub- 
ject in the most solemn strain for about twenty minutes, 
he silently arose from the table and retired to his room. 

FAVORITE POEMS. 

Webster was very fond of Scott's "Lady of the Lake." 
He especially enjoyed the beginning of the first Canto, 



I 24 



DAN IK I. WEBSTER. 



saying that it brought the scene vividly before his mind. 

He loved to repeat it to his friends, and pausing, to im- 

press upon their 

minds, the beautiful 

word pictures of the 

poet. 

"The stag at eve had 

drunk his fill, 
Where danced the moon 

on Monon's rill, 
And deep his midnight 

lair had made 
In lone Glenartney's 

hazel-shade. 
And when the sun, his 

beacon red 
Had kindled on Benvoir- 

lich's head, 
The deep mouthed blood- 
hound's heavy bay 
Resounded up the rocky 

way, 
And faint from farther 
distance borne, 

Were heard the clang of hoof and horn. 
As chief who hears his warder call 
'To arms! the foemen storm the wall! ' 
The antlered monarch of the waste 
Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 
But, ere his fleet career he took, 
The dew drops from his flank he shook; 
Like crested leader, proud and high, 
Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; 
A moment gazed adown the dale — 
A moment snuffed the tainted gale — 
A moment listened to the cry, 




Sir Walter Scott, Webster's Favorite Author. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 125 

That thickened as the chase drew nigh; 
Then, as the headmost foes appeared, 
With one brave bound, the copse he cleared, 
And stretching forward, free and far 
Sought the wild heaths of Uam-var." 

Mr. Webster had also a high appreciation of the sub- 
limity of Bibical poetry. "The Hebrew poets, 1 'said he, 
"borrowed a great deal of their imagery from common 
life, and to have invested familiar subjects with the great- 
est dignity is a commendation, I should say, peculiar to 
them . 

"Homer who has attempted the same, and not without 
success, still falls far below the sacred writers in boldness 
and sublimity. What other writer, indeed, in ancient 
or modern times would have dared, or daring could have 
succeeded, in conveying a shadow or outline of this glor- 
ious delineation of imagery taken from the wine press?" 

"Who is this that cometh from Edom? 
"With garments deeply dyed from Bozrah? 
This, that is magnificent in his apparel; 
Marching on in the greatness of his strength?" 

"I, the announcer of righteousness,mighty to save." 

"Wherefore is thine apparel red? 

"And thy garments, as one that treadeth the wine vat? 

"I have trodden the wine press alone; 

And of the people, there was none to help me." 

No one who ever heard Daniel Webster repeat, with 
his deep and sympathetic intonation, this announcement 
from Isaiah, in relation to the coming of the Messiah, 
will ever forget his rendering of the sublime passage. 

"I have met with men in my time," he said, "who 



iz6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

were accounted scholars — who knew Homer by heart, 
recited Pindar, were at home with ^Eschylus, and petted 
Horace — who could not understand Isaiah, Moses or the 
Royal Poet. Why is this? Why, in cultivating profane 
poetry should they neglect sacred — so far superior in 
original force, sublimity, and truth to nature? 

"The Book of Job is a complete epic, only instead of 
wars and combatants, we have arguments and orators. 
Its action is entire and complete, as the unity of the work 
demands; or as Aristotle expresses it, it has a beginning, 
middle, and end. 

"The middle of this epic, corresponding with that por- 
tion of the Iliad which describes the various contests be- 
tween the Greeks and Trojans, is the sustained, and at 
times irate controversy between Job and his friends — 
perhaps the greatest visitation of Providence upon him. 

"Isaiah may be occasionally more sublime, and David 
superior in tenderness and variety of style; but the author 
of Job in force, and fidelity of description is unrivaled. 
The dignity of his imagery, and his elevated diction are 
worthy of his theme." 

"I read often, and always with increased pleasure," 
said Mr. Webster,' 'the prayer of Habakkuk as it is called; 
It may properly be denominated an ode, and has been 
accounted one of the best specimens of its class." 

"God came from Teman 

The Holy One from Mount Paran. 

His glory covered the heavens, 

The earth was full of his praise. 

Before him rushed the pestilence 

And burning coals went forth at his feet. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 127 

"He stood and measured the earth; 

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations. 

The everlasting mountains are scattered, 

The perpetual hills did bow their heads. 

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; 

The curtains of the land of Midian trembled. 

The mountains saw thee and trembled; 

The overflowing of the water passed by. 

The deep uttered his voice, 

And lifted up his hands on high. 

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation 

At the light of thine arrows they went, 

At the shining of thy glittering spear." 

"The Hebrew poets have this advantage, that in the 
awful dignity of their subject, they not only immeasure- 
ably surpass all other authors, but go beyond the confines 
of human genius. They celebrate the praises and the 
power of the Holy One, under the influence of direct in- 
spiration, and thus become the organs through which 
His greatness, and justice, and immensity, reach our ap- 
prehension." 

"And what," continued Mr. Webster, "can be more 
beautiful, more expressive than the closing lines of this 
ode? 

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 

Neither shall fruit be in the vines; • 

The labor of the olive shall fail, 

And the fields shall yield no meat; 

The flock shall be cut off from the fold, 

And there shall be no herd in the stalls; 

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 

I will joy in the God of my salvation." 

"The cadence of the sentiment and the arrangement 
of the words are wholly poetical. Without doubt, they 



i 2 8 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

were composed originally in verse, or measured numbers; 
but having lost the ancient pronunciation of the Hebrew 
language, we cannot ascertain satisfactorily the nature of 
Hebrew verse. 

'The labor of the olive' — what an energetic simile ! As 
if the olive, of its own accord supplied or withheld its fruit ; 
as if it had volition and powers inherent in itself. 'The 
fields shall yield no meat.' 

"Plow much more forcible and poetic than if he had said 
'The fields shall yield no produce, no crop, or return.' 

"The whole ode or 'prayer' indeed is full of vivid images, 
embellishing and strengthening the earnest ideas they illus- 
trate." — From "Social Hours of Daniel Webster" in Har- 
per's Monthly. 



EXTRACTS PROM SPEECHES BY DANIEL WEBSTER. 

THE GREEK REVOLUTION. 

From the speech delivered when Mr. Webster was forty - 
two years of age : 

"I am not of those who would, in the hour of the utmost 
peril, withhold such encouragement as might be properly and 
lawfully given, and when the crisis should be passed, over- 
whelm the rescued sufferer with kindness and caresses. 

"The Greeks address the civilized world with a pathos 
not easy to be resisted. They invoke our favor by more 
moving considerations than can well belong to the condition 
of any other people. They stretch out their arms to the 
Christian communities of the earth, beseeching them, by a 
generous recollection of their ancestors, — by the considera- 
tion of their own desolated cities and villages, — by their 
wives and children sold into an accursed slavery, — by their 
own blood, which they seem willing to pour out like water — 
by the common faith, and in the name which unites all 
Christians, that they would exten« 1 to them, at least, some 
token of compassionate regard." 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



i 29 



WEBSTER'S ORATION AT THE LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF 
THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 

Delivered at Charlestown, Mass., on the Seventeenth of June, 1825. 



This uiicouiite d 
and around me, proves 
occasion has excited, 
human faces, glowing 
joy, and, from the im- 
gratitude, turned rev- 
this spacious temple 
claim that the day, the 
of our assembling 
pression on our hearts, 
anything in local asso- 
mind of man, we need 
the emotions which 




multitude before me, 
the feeling which the 
These thousands of 
with sympathy and 
pulses of a common 
erently to heaven, in 
of the firmament, pro- 
place, and the purpose 
have made a deep im- 
If, indeed, there be 
ciation fit to affect the 
not strive to repress 
agitate us here. We 



Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown, Mass. 

are among the sepulchres of our fathers. We are on ground 
distinguished by their valor, their constancy, and the shed- 



130 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



dino" of their blood. We are here, not to fix an uncertain 
date in our annals, nor to draw into notice an obscure and 
unknown spot. If our humble purpose had never been con- 
ceived, if we ourselves had never been born, the seventeenth 
of June, 1775, would have been a day on which all subse- 
quent history would have poured its light, and the eminence 
where we stand, a point of attraction to the eyes of succes- 
sive generations. But we are Americans. We live in what 
may be called the early age of this great continent ; and we 
know that our posterity, through all time, are here to suf- 
fer and enjov the allotments of humanity. We see before 
us a probable train of great events ; we know that our own 
fortunes have been hapily cast ; and it is natural, therefore, 
that we should be moved by the contemplation of occur- 
rences which have guided our destiny before many of us 
were born, and settled the condition in which we should pass 
that portion of our existence which God allows to men on 
earth. 

We do not read even of the discovery of this continent 
without feeling something of a personal interest in the event ; 
without being reminded how much it has affected our own 
fortunes and our own existence. It is more impossible for 
us, therefore, than for others, to contemplate with unaffected 
minds that interesting, I may say, that most touching and 
pathetic scene, when the great discoverer of America stood 
on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night falling 
on the sea, yet no man sleeping ; tossed on the billows of an 
unknown ocean, yet the stronger billows of alternate hope 
and despair tossing his own troubled thoughts ; extending 
forward his harassed frame, straining westward his anxious 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 131 

and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him a moment 
of rapture and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with the sight 
of the unknown world. 

Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our 
fates, and therefore still more interesting to our feelings 
and affections, is the settlement of our own country by colo- 
nists from England. We cherish every memorial of these 
worthy ancestors ; we celebrate their patience and fortitude ; 
we admire their daring enterprise ; we teach our children to 
venerate their piety; and we are justly proud of being de- 
scended from men who have set the world an example of 
founding civil institutions on the great and united principles 
of human freedom and human knowledge. To us, their 
children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never 
be without its interest. We shall not stand unmoved on the 
shore of Plymouth, while the sea continues to wash it ; nor 
will our brethren, in another early and ancient colony, for- 
get the place of its first establishment, till their river shall 
cease to flow by it. No vigor of youth, no maturity of man- 
hood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its in- 
fancy was cradled and defended. 

But the great event, in the history of the continent, which 
we are now met here to commemorate ; that prodigy of mod- 
ern times, at once the wonder and blessing of the world, is 
the American Revolution. In a day of extraordinary pros- 
peritv and happiness, of high national honor, distinction, 
and power, we are brought together, in this place, by our 
love of country, by our admiration of exalted character, by 
our gratitude for signal services and patriotic devotion. 

The society, whose organ I am, was formed for the pur- 



132 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

pose of rearing some honorable and durable monument to 
the memory of the early friends of American Independence. 
They have thought that for this object no time could be more 
propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful period ; 
that no place could claim preference over this memorable 
spot ; and that no day could be more auspicious to the un- 
dertaking than the anniversary of the battle which was here 
fought. The foundation of that monument we have now 
laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with prayers 
to Almighty God for his blessing, and in the midst of this 
cloud of witnesses, we have begun the work. We trust it 
will be prosecuted, and that springing from a broad founda- 
tion rising high in massive solidity and unadorned grandeur 
it may remain as long as Heaven permits the works of man 
to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in memory of which 
it is raised and of the gratitude of those who have reared 
it. 

We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions 
is most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of 
mankind. We know that if we could cause this structure 
to ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it pierc- 
ed them, its broad surface could still contain but part of 
that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been 
spread over the earth, and which history charges itself with 
making known to all future times. We know that no in- 
scription on entablatures less broad than the earth itself 
can carry information of the events we commemorate where 
it lias not already gone; and that no structure which shall 
not outlive the duration of letters and knowledge among 
men, can prolong the memorial. But our object is by this 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 133 

edifice to show our own deep sense of the value and import- 
ance of the achievements of our ancestors ; and by presenting 
this work of gratitude to the eye to keep alive similar senti- 
ments and to foster a constant regard for the principles of 
the Revolution. Human beings are composed not of reason 
only, but of imagination also, and sentiment ; and that is 
neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated to the 
purpose of giving right direction to sentiments and opening 
proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not be sup- 
posed that our object is to perpetuate national hostility, 
or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher, purer, 
nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit of national in- 
dependence, and we wish that the light of peace may rest 
upon it forever. We rear a memorial of our conviction 
of that unmeasured benefit which has been conferred on 
our own land, and of the happy influences which have 
been produced by the same events on the general interests 
of mankind. We come as Americans to mark a spot which 
must forever be dear to us and our posterity. We wish 
that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye hither, 
may behold that the place is not undistinguished where the 
first great battle of the Revolution was fought. We wish 
that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and im- 
portance of that event to every class and every age. We 
wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection from 
maternal lips and that weary and withered age may behold 
it and be solaced by the recollections which it suggests. We 
wish that labor may look up here and be proud in the midst 
of its toil. We wish that in those days of disaster which, 
as they come on all nations, must be expected to come on 



134 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ns also, desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hithenvard 
and be assured that the foundations of our national power 
still stand strong. We wish that this column rising toward 
heaven among the pointed spires of so many temples dedi- 
cated to God may contribute also to produce in all minds a 
pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, final- 
ly, that the last object on the sight of him who leaves his 
native shore, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, 
may be something which shall remind him of the liberty and 
the glory of his country. Let it rise till it meet the sun in 
his coming; let the earlier light of morning gild it, and part- 
ing day linger and play on its summit. 

We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various 
and so important that they might crowd and distinguish 
centuries are in our times compressed within the compass 
of a single life. When has it happened that history has had 
so much to record in the same term of years as since the 
seventeenth of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which 
under other circumstances might itself have been expeeted 
to occasion a war of half a century, has been achieved; 
twenty-four soverign and independent States erected ; and 
a general government established over them, so safe, so 
wise, so free, so practical, that we might well wonder its 
establishment should have been accomplished so soon were 
it not for the greater wonder that it should have been estab- 
lished at all. Two or three millions of people have been 
augmented to twelve ; and the great forests of the West 
prostrated beneath the arm of successful industry; and the 
dwellers on the banks of Ohio and the Mississippi become 
the fellow-citizens and neighbors of those who cultivate 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 135 

the hills of New England. We have a commerce that leaves 
no sea unexplored ; navies which take no law from super- 
ior force ; revenues adequate to all the exigencies of gov 
eminent, almost without taxation ; and peace with all na ■ 
tions, founded on equal rights and mutual respect. 

Europe, within the same period has been agitated by a 
mighty revolution, which, while it has been felt in the indi- 
vidual condition and happiness of almost every man, has 
shaken to the center her political fabric, and dashed against 
one another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages. On 
this, our continent, our own example has been followed ; 
and colonies have sprung up to be nations. Unaccustomed 
sounds of liberty and free government have reached us from 
beyond the track of the sun ; and at this moment the domin- 
ion of European power in this continent, from the place 
where we stand to the South Pole, is annihilated forever. 

In the meantime, both in Europe and America, such has 
been the general progress of knowledge ; such the improve- 
ments in legislation, in commerce, in the arts, in letters, and, 
above all, in liberal ideas and the general spirit of the age, 
that the whole world seems changed. 

Yet. notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of 
the things which have happened since the dav of the battle 
of Bunker Hill, we are but fifty years removed from it ; and 
we now stand here to enjoy all the blessings of our own 
condition, and to look abroad on the brightened prospects 
of the world, while we hold still among us some of those who 
were active agents in the scenes of 1775, and who are now 
here from every quarter of New England to visit once more, 
and under circumstances so affecting, I had almost said so 



136 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

overwhelming, this renowned theatre of their courage and 
patriotism. 

Venerable men, you have come down to us from a former 
generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your 
lives that you might behold this joyous day. You are now 
where you stood fifty years ago this very hour, with your 
brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the 
strife for your country. Behold, how altered! The same 
heavens are, indeed, over your heads ; the same ocean rolls 
at your feet ; but all else, how changed ! You hear now 
no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed volumes of 
smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The 
ground strewed with the dead and the dying ; the impetuous 
charge ; the steady and successful repulse ; the loud call to 
repeated assault ; the summoning all that is manly to re- 
peated resistance ; a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly 
bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in war 
and death ; all these you have witnessed, but you witness 
them no more. All is peace. The heights of yonder me- 
tropolis, its towers and roofs which you then saw filled with 
wives and children and countrymen in distress and terror, 
and looking with unutterable emotions for the issue of the 
combat, have presented you to-day with the sight of its 
whole happy population come out to welcome and greet you 
with a universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships by a felicity 
of position appropriately lying at the foot of this mount, 
and seeming fondly to cling around it. are not means of an- 
noyance to you, but your country's own means of distinc- 
tion and defense. All is peace ; and God has granted you 
this sight of your country's happiness ere you slumber in 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 137 

the grave forever. He has allowed you to behold and to 
partake the reward of your patriotic toils ; and he has 
allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, 
and in the name of the present generation, in the name of 
your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you ! 

But, alas ! you are not all here ! Time and the sword have 
thinned your ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, 
Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes seek for you in vain amid 
this broken band. You are gathered to your fathers, and 
live only to your country in her grateful remembrance and 
your own bright example. But let us not too much grieve 
that you have met the common fate of men. You lived at 
least long enough to know that your work had been nobly 
and successfully accomplished. You lived to see your coun- 
try's independence established and to sheath your swords 
from war. On the light of liberty you saw arise the light of 
Peace, like 

" Another morn 
Risen on mid-noon 

and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless. 

But — ah! Him! the first great martyr in this great 
cause! Him! the premature victim of his own self-devoting 
heart ! Him ! the head of our civil councils and the destined 
leader of our military bands, whom nothing brought hither 
but the unquenchable fire of his own spirit ; him ! cut off by 
Providence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick 
gloom ; falling ere he saw the star of his country rise ; pour- 
ing out his generous blood like water before he knew 
whether it would fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage ! 
how shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle the utter- 



138 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ance of thy name ! Our poor work may perish, hut thine 
shall endure ! This monument may moulder away ; the solid 
ground it rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea, 
but thy memory shall not fail ! Wheresoever among men a 
heart shall be found that beats to the transports of patriot- 
ism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim kindred with 
thy spirit ! 

But the scene amid which we stand does not permit us 
to confine our thoughts or our sympathies to those fearless 
spirits who hazarded or lost their lives on this consecrated 
spot. We have the happiness to rejoice here in the presence 
of a most worthy representation of the survivors of the 
whole Revolutionary army. 

Veterans, you are the remnant of many a well-fought 
field. You bring with you marks of honor from Trenton 
and Monmouth, from Yorktown, Camden, Bennington, and 
Saratoga. Veterans of half a century, when in your youth- 
ful days you put everything at hazard in your country's 
cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still 
your fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour like 
this ! At a period to which you could not reasonably have 
expected to arrive ; at a moment of national prosperity, such 
as you could never have foreseen, you are now met here to 
enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers and to receive the over- 
flowings of a universal gratitude. 

But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts 
inform me that even this is not an unmixed joy. I perceive 
that a tumult of contending feelings rushes upon you. The 
images of the dead, as well as the person of the living, 
throng to your embraces. The scene overwhelms you, and I 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 139 

turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile upon 
your declining years and bless them ! And when you shall 
here have exchanged your embraces ; when you shall once 
more have pressed the hands which have been so often ex- 
tended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in the exul- 
tation of victory ; then look abroad into this lovely land, 
which your young valor defended, and mark the happiness 
with which it is filled ; yea, look abroad into the whole earth 
and see what a name you have contributed to give to your 
country, and what a praise you have added to freedom, and 
then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which beam upon 
your last days from the improved condition of mankind. 

The occasion does not require of me any particular ac- 
count of the battle of the seventeenth of June, nor any de- 
tailed narrative of the events which immediately preceded it. 
These are familiarly known to all. In the progress of the 
great and interesting controversy, Massachusetts and the 
town of Boston had become early and marked objects ot 
the displeasure of the British Parliament. This had been 
manifested in the act for altering the government of the 
Province, and that for the shutting up the port of Boston. 
Nothing sheds more honor on our early history, and nothing 
better shows how little the feelings and sentiments of the 
Colonies were known or regarded in England, than the im- 
pression which these measures everywhere produced in 
America. It had been anticipated that while the other Col- 
onies would be terrified by the severity of the punishment 
inflicted on Massachusetts, the other seaports would be gov 
erned by a mere spirit of gain ; and that, as Boston was now 
cut off from all commerce, the unexpected advantage which 



140 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

this blow on her was calculated to router on other towns 
would be greedily enjoyed. How miserably such reasoners 
deceived themselves ! How little they knew of the depth, 
and the strength, and the intenseness of that feeling of re- 
sistance to illegal acts of power which possessed the whole 
.American people. Everywhere the unworthy boon was re- 
jected with scorn. The fortunate occasion was seized every- 
where to show to the whole world that the Colonies were 
swayed by no local interest, no partial interest, no selfish in- 
terest. The temptation to profit by the punishment of Bos- 
ton was strongest to our neighbors of Salem. Yet Salem 
was precisely the place where this miserable proffer was 
spurned in a tone of the most lofty self-respect and the most 
indignant patriotism. "We are deeply affected," said its in- 
habitants, "with the sense of our public calamities ; but the 
miseries that are now rapidly hastening on our brethren in 
the capital of the Province greatly excite our commiseration. 
By shutting up the port of Boston some imagine that the 
course of trade might be turned hither, and to our benefit ; 
but we must be dead to every idea of justice, lost to all feel- 
ings of humanity, could we indulge a thought to seize on 
wealth and raise our fortunes on the ruin of our suffering 
neighbors." These noble sentiments were not confined to 
our immediate vicinity. In that day of general affection 
and brotherhood, the blow given to Boston smote on even- 
patriotic heart, from one end of the countrty to the other. 
Virginia and the Carolinas, as well as Connecticut and New 
Hampshire, felt and proclaimed the cause to be their own. 
The Continental Congress, then holding its first session in 
Philadelphia, expressed its sympathy for the suffering in- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 141 

habitants of Boston, and addressees were received from all 
quarters assuring them that the cause was a common one, 
and should be met by common efforts and common sacrifices. 
The Congress of Massachusetts responded to these assur- 
ances ; and in an address to the Congress of Philadelphia, 
bearing the official signature, perhaps among the last of the 
immortal Warren, notwithstanding the severity of its suffer- 
ing and the magnitude of the dangers which threatened it, 
it was declared that this Colony "is ready, at all times, to 
spend and to be spent in the cause of America." 

But the hour drew nigh which was to put professions to 
the proof and to determine whether the authors of these 
mutual pledges were ready to seal them in blood. The tid- 
ings of Lexington and Concord had no sooner spread than 
it was universally felt that the time was at last come for ac- 
tion. A spirit pervaded all ranks, not transient, not boister- 
ous, but deep, solemn, determined — 

•■ Totamque infusa per artus 
Mens agitat molein, et magno Be eorpore miscet." 

War, on their own soil and at their own doors, was, indeed, 
a strange work to the yeomanry of New England ; but their 
consciences were convinced of its necessity, their country 
called them to it and they did not withold themselves from 
the perilous trial. The ordinary occupations of life were 
abandoned ; the plow was stayed in the unfinished furrow ; 
wives gave up their husbands, and mothers gave up their 
sons to the battles of a civil war. Death might come, in 
honor, on the field ; it might come, in disgrace, on the scaf- 
fold. For either and for both they were prepared. The 
sentiment of Quincy was full in their hearts. "Blandish- 



142 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ments," said that distinguished son of genius and patriotism. 
"will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a halter intimi- 
date ; for, under God, we are determined that wheresoever, 
whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our 
exit, we will die free men." 

The seventeenth of June saw the four New England 
Colonies standing here, side by side, to triumph or to fall to- 
gether; and there was with them from that moment to the 
end of the war, what I hope will remain with them forever — 
one cause, one country, one heart. 

The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most 
important effects beyond its immediate result as a military 
engagement. It created at once a state of open, public war. 
There could now be no longer a question of proceeding 
against individuals as guilty of treason or rebellion. That 
fearful crisis was past. The appeal now lay to the sword. 
and the only question was whether the spirit and the re- 
sources of the people would hold out till the object should 
be accomplished. Nor were its general consequences con- 
fined to our own country. The previous proceedings of the 
Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses had made 
their cause known to Europe. Without boasting, we may 
say that in no age or country has the public cause been 
maintained with more force of argument, more power of 
illustration, or more of that persuasion which excited feel- 
ing and elevated principle can alone bestow, than the Revo 
lutionary State papers exhibit. These papers will forever 
deserve to be studied, not only for the spirit which they 
breathe, but for the ability with which they were written. 

To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies had 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 143 

now added a practical and severe proof of their own true 
devotion to it, and evidence also of the power which they 
could bring to its support. All now saw that if America 
fell, she would not fall without a struggle. Men felt sympa- 
thy and regard as well as surprise when they beheld these 
infant States, remote, unknown, unaided, encounter the 
power of England, and in the first considerable battle leave 
more of their enemies dead on the field, in proportion to the 
number of combatants, than they had recently known in the 
wars of Europe. 

Information of these events circulating through Europe 
at length reached the ears of one who now hears me. He 
has not forgotten the emotion which the fame of Bunker 
Hill and the name of Warren excited in his youthful breast. 

Sir, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment 
of great public principles of liberty, and to do honor to the 
distinguished dead. The occasion is too severe for eulogy 
to the living. But, sir, your interesting relation to this coun- 
try, the peculiar circumstances which surround you and sur- 
round us, call on me to express the happiness which we de- 
rive from your presence and aid in this solemn commemor- 
ation. 

Fortunate, fortunate man! with what measure of devo- 
tion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your 
extraordinary life ! You are connected with both hemis- 
pheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain 
that electric spark of liberty should be conducted, through 
you, from the New World to the Old ; and we, who are now 
here to perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us long 
ago received it in charge from our fathers to cherish your 



i +4 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

name and your virtues. You will account it an instance of 
your good fortune, sir, that you crossed the seas to visit us 
at a time which enables you to be present at this solemnity. 
You now behold the field, the renown of which reached you 
in the heart of France, and caused a thrill in your ardent 
bosom. You see the lines of the little redoubt thrown up by 
the incredible diligence of Prescott ; defended to the last 
extremity, by his lion-hearted valor ; and within which the 
corner stone of our monument has now taken its position. 
You see where Warren fell, and where Parker, Gardiner, 
McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots fell with him. 
Those who survived that day. and whose lives have been 
prolonged to the present hour, are now around you. Some 
of them you have known in the trying scenes of war. Be- 
hold ! they now stretch forth their feeble arms to embrace 
you. Behold ! they raise their trembling voices to invoke 
the blessing of God on you and yours forever. 

Sir ; you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this 
edifice. Y'ou have heard us rehearse, with our feeble com- 
mendation, the names of departed patriots. Sir, monuments 
and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them this day to 
Warren and his associates. ( )n other occasions they have 
been given to your more immediate companions in arms, to 
Washington, to Greene, to Gates, Sullivan, and Lincoln. 
Sir, we have become reluctant to grant these, our highest 
and last honors, further. We would gladly hold them yet 
back from the little remnant of that immortal band. "Scnts 
in avium redcas." Illustrious as are your merits, yet far. 
oh, very far distant be the day when any inscription shall 
bear your name, or any tongue pronounce its eulogy ! 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 145 

The leading reflection to which this occasion seems to 
invite us respects the great changes which have happened 
in the fifty years since the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 
And it peculiarly marks the character of the present age 
that, in looking at these changes and in estimating their ef- 
fect on onr condition, we are obliged to consider, not what 
has been done in our own country only, but in others also. 
In these interesting times, while nations are making separate 
and individual advances in improvement, they make, too, a 
common progress ; like vessels on a common tide, propelled 
by the gales at different rates, according to their several 
structure and management, but all moved forward by one 
mighty current beneath, strong enough to bear onward what- 
ever does not sink beneath it. 

A chief distinction of the present day is a community 
of opinions and knowledge among men, in different nations, 
existing in a degree heretofore unknown. Knowledge has, 
in our time, triumphed, and is triumphing over distance, 
over difference of languages, over diversity of habits, 
over prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized and 
Christian world is fast learning the great lesson, that 
difference of nation does not imply necessary hostility, and 
that all contact need not be war. The whole world is be- 
coming a common field for intellect to act in. Energy of 
mind, genius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in 
any tongue, and the world will hear it. A great chord of 
sentiment and feeling runs through two continents and vi- 
brates over both. Every breeze wafts intelligence from 
country to country ; every wave rolls it ; all give it forth, 
and all in turn receive it. There is a vast commerce of 



i 4 6 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ideas ; there are marts and exchanges for intellectual dis- 
coveries, and a wonderful fellowship of those individual in- 
telligencies which make up the mind and opinion of the age. 
Mind is the great lever of all things ; human thought is the 
process by which human ends are ultimately answered ; and 
the diffusion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last half 
century, has rendered innumerable minds, variously gifted 
by nature, competent to be competitors, or fellow-workers, 
on the theater of intellectual operation. 

From these causes important improvements have taken 
place in the personal condition of individuals. Generally 
speaking, mankind are not only better fed and better clothed, 
but they are able also to enjoy more leisure ; they possess 
more refinement and more self-respect. A superior tone of 
education, manners, and habits prevails. This remark, most 
true in its application to our own country, is also partly true 
when applied elsewhere. It is proved by the vastly aug- 
mented consumption of those articles of manufacture and of 
commerce which contribute the comforts and the decencies 
of life — an augmentation which has far outrun the progress 
of population. And while the unexampled and almost in- 
credible use of machinery would seem to supply the place of 
labor, labor still finds its occupation and its reward ; so wise- 
ly has Providence adjusted men's wants and desires to their 
condition and their capacity. 

Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made in 
the last half century, in the polite and the mechanic arts, in 
machinery and manufactures, in commerce and agriculture, 
in letters and in science, would require volumes. I must ab- 
stain wholly from these subjects, and turn, for a mo- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



147 



ment, to the contemplation of what has been done on 
the great question of politics and government. This is the 
master topic of the age ; and during the whole fifty years, it 
has intensely occupied the thoughts of men. The nature of 
civil government, its ends and uses, have been canvassed 
and investigated ; ancient opinions attacked and defended ; 
new ideas recommended and resisted by whatever power the 
mind of man could bring to the controversy. From the 
closet and the public halls the debate has been transferred to 
the field ; and the world has been shaken by wars of un- 
exampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of fortune. 
A day of peace has at length succeeded ; and now that the 
strife has subsided, and the smoke cleared away, we begin 
to see what has actually been done, permanently changing 
the state and condition of human society. And without 
dwelling on particular circumstances, it is most apparent 
that, from the before-mentioned causes of augmented knowl- 
edge and improved individual condition, a real, substantial, 
and important change has taken place, and is taking place, 
greatly beneficial, on the whole, to human liberty and human 
happiness. 

The great wheel of political revolution began to move in 
America. Here its rotation was guarded, regular, and safe. 
Transferred to the other continent, from unfortunate but 
natural causes, it received an irregular and violent impulse ; 
it whirled along with fearful celerity, till at length, like the 
chariot wheel in the races of antiquity, it took fire from 
the rapidity of its own motion, and blazed onward, spreading 
conflagration and terror around. 

We learn from the result of this experiment how fortu- 



148 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

nate was our own condition, and how admirably the char- 
acter of our people was calculated for making the great ex- 
ample of popular governments. The possession of power 
did not turn the heads of the American people, for they had 
long been in the habit of exercising a great portion of self- 
control. Although the paramount authority of the parent 
State existed over them, yet a large field of legislation had 
always been open to our Colonial assemblies. They were 
accustomed to representative bodies and the forms of free 
government ; they understood the doctrine of the division of 
power among the different branches and the necessity of 
checks on each. The character of our countrymen, more- 
over, was sober, moral, and religious ; and there was little in 
the change to shock their feelings of justice and humanity, 
or even to disturb an honest prejudice. We had no domestic 
throne to overturn, no privileged orders to cast down, no 
violent changes of property to encounter. In the American 
Revolution, no man sought or wished for more than to de- 
fend and enjoy his own. None hoped for plunder or for spoil. 
Rapacity was unknown to it ; the axe was not among the in- 
struments of its accomplishment ; and we all know that it 
could not have lived a single day under any well-founded 
imputation of possessing a tendency adverse to the Chris- 
tian religion. 

It need not surprise us that, under circumstances less 
auspicious, political revolutions elsewhere, even when well 
intended, have terminated differently. It is, indeed, a great 
achievement, it is the master-work of the world, to establish 
governments entirely popular, on lasting foundations; nor 
is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular principle at all 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



149 



into governments to which it has been altogether a stranger. 
It cannot be doubted, however, that Europe has come out 
of the contest, in which she has been so long engaged, with ■ 
greatly superior knowledge, and, in many respects, a highly 
improved condition. Whatever benefit has been acquired is 
likely to be retained for it consists mainly in the acquisition 
of more enlightened ideas. And although kingdoms and 
provinces may be wrested from the hands that hold them, in 
the same manner they were obtained ; although ordinary and 
vulgar power may, in human affairs, be lost as it has been 
won, yet it is the glorious prerogative of the empire of 
knowledge, that what it gains it never loses. On the con- 
trary, it increases by the multiple of its own power ; all its 
ends become means ; all its attainments help to new con- 
quests. Its whole abundant harvest is but so much seed 
wheat, and nothing has ascertained, and nothing can ascer- 
tain, the amount of ultimate product. 

Under the influence of this rapidly increasing knowledge, 
the people have begun, in all forms of government, to think 
and to reason on affairs of state. Regarding government as 
an institution for the public good, they demand a knowledge 
of its operations and a participation in its exercise. A call 
for the representative system, wherever it is not enjoyed, 
and where there is already intelligence enough to estimate 
its value, is perseveringly made. Where men may speak out, 
they demand it ; where the bayonet is at their throats they 
pray for it. 

When Louis XIV. said : "I am the State," he expressed 
the essence of the doctrine of unlimited power. By the rules 
of that system, the people are disconnected from the State; 



150 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

they are its subjects; it is their lord. These ideas, founded 
in the love of power, and long supported by the excess and 
■ abuse of it, are yielding in our age to other opinions ; the 
conviction of that fundamental and manifest truth, that the 
powers of government are but a trust, and that they cannot 
be lawfully exercised but for the good of the community. 
As knowledge is more and more extended, this conviction 
becomes more and more general. Knowledge, in truth, is 
the great sun in the firmament. Life and power are scat- 
tered by all its beams. The prayer of the Grecian combat- 
ant, when enveloped in unnatural clouds and darkness, is 
the appropriate political supplication for the people of every 
country not yet blessed with free institutions : 

" Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore ; 
Give me to see — and Ajax asks no more." 

We may hope that the growing influence of enlightened 
sentiments will promote the permanent peace of the world. 
Wars, to maintain family alliances, to uphold or to cast 
down dynasties, to regulate successions to thrones, which 
have occupied so much room in the history of modern times, 
if not less likely to happen at all, will be less likely to be- 
come general and involve many nations, as the great prin- 
ciple shall be more and more established, that the interest of 
the world is peace, and its first great statute, that every 
nation possess the power of establishing a government for 
itself. But public opinion has attained also an influence 
over governments which do not permit the popular principle 
into their organization. A necessary respect for the judg- 
ment of the world operates, in some measure, as a control 
over the most unlimited forms of authority. It is owing, 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



!5' 



perhaps, to this truth, that the interesting struggle of the 
Greeks has been suffered to go on so long, without a direct 
interference, either to wrest that country from its present 
masters, and add it to other powers, or to execute the system 
of pacification by force, and, with united strength, lay the 
neck of Christian and civilized Greece at the foot of the bar- 
barian Turk. Let us thank God that we live in an age when 
something has influence besides the bayonet, and when the 
sternest authority does not venture to encounter the scorch- 
ing power of public reproach. Any attempt of the kind I 
have mentioned should be met by one universal burst of 
indignation ; the air of the civilized world ought to be made 
too warm to be comfortably breathed by any who would 
hazard it. 

It is, indeed a touching reflection, that while, in the full- 
ness of our country's happiness, we rear this monument to 
her honor, we look for instruction in our undertaking, to a 
country which is now in fearful contest, not for works of 
art or memorials of glory, but for her own existence. Let 
her be assured that she is not forgotten in the world ; that 
her efforts are applauded, and that constant prayers ascend 
for her success. And let us cherish a confident hope for her 
final triumph. If the true spark of religious and civil lib- 
erty be kindled, it will burn. Human agency cannot extin- 
guish it. Like the earth's central fire, it may be smothered 
for a time ; the ocean may overwhelm it ; mountains may 
press it down ; but its inherent and unconquerable force will 
heave both the ocean and the land, and at some time or 
another, in some place or another, the volano will break out 
and flame up to heaven. 



152 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Among the great events of the half-century, we must 
reckon, certainly, the revolution of South America ; and we 
are not likely to overrate the importance of that revolution, 
either to the people of the country itself or to the rest of the 
world. The late Spanish Colonies, now independent States, 
under circumstances less favorable, doubtless, than attended 
our own Revolution, have yet successfully commenced their 
national existence. They have accomplished the great ob- 
ject of establishing their independence ; they are known and 
acknowledged in the world ; and, although in regard to their 
systems of government, their sentiments on religious toler- 
ation, and their provisions for public instruction, they may 
have yet much to learn, it must be admitted that they have 
risen to'the condition of settled and established States more 
rapidly than could have been reasonably anticipated. They 
already furnish an exhilarating example of the difference 
between free governments and despotic misrule. Their com- 
merce at this moment creates a new activity in all the great 
marts of the world. They show themselves able by an ex- 
change of commodities to bear a useful part in the inter- 
course of nations. A new spirit of enterprise and industry 
begins to prevail ; all the great interests of society receive a 
salutary impulse ; and the progress of information not only 
testifies to an improved condition, but constitutes itself the 
highest and most essential improvement. 

When the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, the existence 
of South America was scarcely felt in the civilized world. 
The thirteen little Colonies of North America habitually 
called themselves the "Continent." Borne down by Colonial 
subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, these vast regions of 



DANIEL WEBSTER. i 53 

the South were hardly visible above the horizon. But in 
our day there hath been, as it were, a new creation. The 
Southern Hemisphere emerges from the sea. Its lofty moun- 
tains begin to lift themselves into the light of heaven; its 
broad and fertile plains stretch out in beauty to the eye of 
civilized man and at the mighty being of the voice of politi- 
cal liberty, the waters of darkness retire. 

And now let us indulge an honest exultation in the con- 
viction of the benefit which the example of our country has 
produced and is likely to produce on human freedom and 
human happiness. And let us endeavor to comprehend in 
all its magnitude and to feel in all its importance the part 
assigned to us in the great drama of human affairs. We are 
placed at the head of the system of representative and popu- 
lar governments. Thus far our example shows that such gov- 
ernments are compatible, not only with respectability and 
power, but with repose, with peace, with security of personal 
rights, with good laws and a just administration. 

We are not propagandists. Wherever other systems are 
preferred, either as being thought better in themselves or as 
better suited to existing conditions, we leave the preference 
to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto proves, however, that 
the popular form is practicable and that, with wisdom and 
knowledge, men may govern themselves; and the duty in- 
cumbent on us is to preserve the consistency of this cheering 
example and take care that nothing may weaken its author- 



154 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ity with the world. If in our case the representative system 
ultimately fail, popular governments must be pronounced im- 
possible. No combination of circumstances more favorable 
to the experiment can ever be expected to occur. The last 
hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with us ; and if it should 
be proclaimed that our example had become an argument 
against the experiment, the knell of popular liberty would be 
sounded throughout the earth. 

These are incitements to duty ; but they are not sugges- 
tions of doubt. Our history and our condition, all that is 
gone before us and all that surrounds us, authorize the belief 
that popular governments, though subject to occasional vari- 
ations, perhaps not always for the better in form, may yet in 
their general character be as durable and as permanent as 
other systems. We know, indeed, that in our country any 
other is impossible. The principle of free governments ad- 
heres to the American soil. It is bedded in it — immovable as 
its mountains. 

And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on 
this generation and on us sink deep into our hearts. Those 
are daily dropping from among us who established our lib- 
erty and our government. The great trust now descends 
to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is pre- 
sented to us as our appropriate object. We can win no 
laurels in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier 
hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 155 

by the side of Solon and Alfred, and other founders of 
States. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains 
to us a great duty of defense and preservation ; and there is 
opened to us also a noble pursuit to which the spirit of the 
times strongly invites us. Our proper business is improve- 
ment. Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day 
of peace let us advance the arts of peace. Let us develop 
the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its 
institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether 
we also, in our day and generation, may not perform some- 
thing worthy to be remembered. Let us cultivate a true 
spirit of union and harmony. In pursuing the great objects 
which our condition points out to us, let us act under a set- 
tled conviction, and a habitual feeling that these twenty-four 
States are one country. Let our conceptions be enlarged to 
the circle of our duties. Let us extend our ideas over the 
whole of the vast field in which we are called to act. Let 
our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing 
but our country. And by the blessing of God may that 
country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of 
oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of lib- 
erty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration, for- 
ever. 



156 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

AT PLYMOUTH IN 1820. 

From the Discourse in Commemoration of the First Settlement of Npw England, 
Delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1820. 

THERE may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for ances- 
try, which nourishes only a weak pride; as there is also a 
care for posterity, which only disguises a habitual avarice, 
or hides the workings of a low and groveling vanity. But there is also 
a moral and philosophical respect for our ancestors, which elevates the 
character and improves the heart. Next to the sense of religious 
duty and moral feeling, I hardly know what should bear with 
stronger obligation on a liberal and enlightened mind than a con- 
sciousness of alliance with excellence which is departed; and a con- 
sciousness, too, that in its acts and conduct, and even in its senti- 
ments and thoughts, it may be actively operating on the happiness 
of those who come after it. Poetry is found to have few stronger 
conceptions, by which it would affect or overwhelm the mind, 
than those in which it presents the moving and speaking image 
of the departed dead to the senses of the living. This belongs to 
poetry, only because it is congenial to our nature. Poetry is, in 
this respect, but the handmaid of true philosophy and morality; 
it deals with us as human beings, naturally reverencing those 
whose visible connection with this state of existence is severed, 
and who may yet exercise we know not what sympathy with our- 
selves; and when it carries us forward also, and shows us the long- 
continued result of all the good we do, in the prosperity of those 
who follow us, till it bears us from ourselves, and absorbs us in an 
intense interest for what shall happen to the generations after us 
—it speaks only in the language of our nature, and affects us with 
sentiments which belong to us as human beings. 

Standing in this relation to our ancestors and our posterity, we 
are assembled on this memorable spot, to perform the duties which 
that relation and the present occasion impose upon us. We have 
come to this Rock, to record here our homage for our Pilgrim 
Fathers; our sympathy in their sufferings; our gratitude for their 
labors; our admiration for their virtues; our veneration for their 
piety ; and our attachment to those principles of civil and religious 
liberty which thev encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms 



DANIEL WEBSTER. i 57 

of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and famine, to 
enjoy and establish. And we would leave here also, for the gen- 
erations which are rising up rapidly to fill our places, some proof 
that we have endeavored to transmit the greater inheritance unim- 
paired; that in our estimate of public principles and private vir- 
tue, in our veneration of religion and piety, in our devotion to reli- 
gious and civil liberty, in our regard to whatever advances human 
knowledge or improves happiness, we are not altogether unworthy of 
our origin. 

The hours of this day are rapidly flying, and this occasion will 
soon be passed. Neither we nor our children can expect to behold its 
return. They are in the distant regions of futurity; they exist only 
in the all-creating power of God, who shall stand here a hundred 
years hence, to trace, through us, their descent from the Pilgrims, 
and to survey, as we have surveyed, the progress of their country 
during the lapse of a century. We would anticipate their concur- 
rence with us in our sentiments of deep regard for our common ances- 
tors. We would anticipate and partake the pleasure with which 
they will then recount the steps of New England's advancement. 
On the morning of that day, although it will not disturb us in our 
repose, the voice of acclamation and gratitude, commencing on the 
Rock cf Plymouth, shall be transmitted through millions of the 
sons of the Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs of the Pa- 
cific seas. 

We would leave for the consideration of those who shall then 
occupy our places some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted 
from our fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attach- 
ment to the cause of good government and of civil and religious lib- 
erty; some proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote every- 
thing which may enlarge the understandings and improve the hearts 
of men. And when, from the long distance of a hundred years, they 
shall look back upon us, they shall know at least that we pos- 
sessed affections, which, running backward and warming with 
gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our happiness, run 
forward also to our posterity, and meet them with cordial saluta- 
tion, ere yet they have arrived on the shore of being. 

Advance, then, ye future generations! We would hail you, 
as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places which we now 



i 58 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

fill, and to taste the blessings of existence where we are now pass- 
ing, and socn shall have passed, our own human duration. We bid 
you welcome to this pleasant land of our fathers. We bid you wel- 
come to the healthful skies and the verdant fields of New England. 
We greet your accession to the great inhertance which we have, 
enjoyed. We welcome you to the blessings of good government and 
religious liberty. We welcome you to the treasures of science and 
the delights of learning. We welcome you to the transcendent sweets 
of domestic life, to happiness of kindred, and parents, and children. 
We welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of rational existence, 
the immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting 
truth ! 



JOHN ADAMS. 



From a Discourse fn Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson, Faneuil Hall, Boston, August 2, 1826. 

THE eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general character, 
and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, manly, and 
energetic; and such the crisis required. When public bodies 
are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great interests are 
at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech 
further than as it is connected with high intellectual and moral en- 
dowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which 
produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. 
It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, 
but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled 
in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, 
in the subject, and in the occasion. AfTccted passion, intense ex- 
pression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to it; they cannot 
reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a foun- 
tain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with 
spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the 
schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, 
shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their 
wives, their children, and their country, hang on the decision of 
the hour. Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is vain ; and 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 159 

all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels 
rebuked and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then 
patriotism is eloquent; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear 
conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, 
the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beam- 
ing from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man 
onward to his object — this, this is eloquence; or rather, it is some- 
thing greater and higher than all eloquence — it is action, noble, sub- 
lime, godlike action. 

In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of argu- 
ment. An appeal had been made to force, and opposing armies were 
in the field. Congress, then, was to decide whether the tie which had 
so long bound us to the parent State was to be severed at once, and 
severed forever. All the Colonies had signified their resolution to 
abide by this decision, and the people looked for it with the most in- 
tense anxiety. And surely, fellow citizens, never, never were men 
called to a more important political deliberation. If we contemplate 
it from the point where they then stood, no question could be more 
full of interest; if we look at it now, and judge of its importance by 
its effects, it appears of still greater magnitude. 

Let us, then, bring before us the assembly, which was about to 
decide a question thus big with the fate of empire. Let us open 
their doors and look in upon their deliberations. Let us survey the 
anxious and careworn countenances, let us hear the firm-toned 
voices, of this band of patriots. 

Hancock presides over the solemn sitting; and one of those not 
yet prepared to pronounce for absolute independence is on the 
floor, and is urging his reasons for dissenting from the Declara- 
tion. 

"Let us pause! This step, once taken, cannot be retraced. This 
resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of reconciliation. If suc- 
cess attend the arms of England, we shall then no longer be Colonies, 
with charters and with privileges; these will all be forfeited by this 
act; and we shall be in the condition of other conquered people, at 
the mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run 
the hazard; but are we ready to carry the country to that length? 
Is success so profitable as to justify it? Where is the military, 
Where the naval power, by which we are to resist the whole strength 



160 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

of the arm of England — for she will exert that strength to the ut- 
most? or will they not act as the people of other countries have 
acted, and, wearied with a long war, submit, in the end, to a worse 
oppression? While we stand on our old ground, and insist on re- 
dress of grievances, we know we are right, and are not answerable 
for consequences. Nothing, then, can be imputed to us. But if we 
now change our object, carry our pretensions further, and set up for 
absolute independence, we shall lose the sympathy of mankind. We 
shall no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling for 
something which we never did possess, and which we have solemnly 
and uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, from the very 
outset of the troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground, of resist- 
ance only to arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe the 
whole to have been mere pretence, and they will look on us, not as 
injured, but as ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsi- 
bility. It will be on us, if, relinquishing the ground on which 
we have stood so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim inde- 
pendence, and carry on the war for that object, while these cities 
burn, these pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the bones of 
their owners, and these streams run blood. It will be upon us, it 
will be upon us, if, failing to maintain this unseasonable and 
ill-judged Declaration, a sterner despotism, maintained by military 
power, shall be established over our posterity, when we ourselves, 
given up by an exhausted, a harassed, a misled people, shall have ex- 
piated our rashness and atoned for our presumption on the scaffold." 
It was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like these. We 
know his opinions, and we know his character. He would com- 
mence with his accustomed directness and earnestness. 

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand 
and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning 
we aimed not at independence. But there's a Divinity which 
shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; 
and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately per- 
sisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to 
reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the 
Declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for reconciliation 
with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and it3 
liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you, 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 161 

sir, who sit in that chair — is not he, our venerable colleague near you 
— are you not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of 
punishment and vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, 
what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains, 
but outlaws? If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, 
or to give up, the war? Do we mean to submit to the measures of 
Parliament, Boston Port Bill and all? Do we mean to submit, and 
consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our coun- 
try and its lights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not 
mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to violate 
that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, 
before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him 
forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards 
of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, 
with cur fortunes and our lives? I know that there is not a man 
here who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep over 
the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of that 
plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, having, twelve months 
ago, in this place, moved you, that George Washington be appoint- 
ed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for defence of Am- 
erican liberty, may my right hand forget her cunning, and my 
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waiver in 
the support I give him. 

"The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And 
if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us char- 
acter abroad. The nations will then treat with us, which they never 
can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against 
our soverign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will sooner 
treat for peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent, 
by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole conduct to- 
ward us has been a course of injustice and oppression. Her pride 
will be less wounded by submitting to that course of things which 
now predestinates our independence, than by yielding the points in 
controversy to her rebellious subjects. The former she would regard 
as the result of fortune; the latter she would feel as her own deep 
disgrace. Why then, why then, sir, do we not as soon as possible 
change this from a civil to a national war ? And since we must 



i6z DANIEL WEBSTER. 

fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the 
benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? 

"If we fail it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. 
The cause will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The 
people, the people, if we are true to them, will carry us, and will 
carry themselves, gloriously, through this struggle. I care not how 
fickle other people have been found. I know "the people of these 
Colonies, and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep 
and settled in their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every Colony, 
indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the 
lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the people with increased 
courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for the restoration of 
privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities, held 
under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire 
independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. 
Read this Declaration at the head of the army; every sword will be 
drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain 
it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pulpit; 
religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling 
round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the 
public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the first 
roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers 
and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of 
Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its sup- 
port. 

"Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see 
clearly, through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue 
it. We may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be 
made good. We may die; die Colonists; die slaves, die, it may be, 
ignominously and on the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the 
pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering 
of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacri- 
fice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a 
country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a free country. 

"But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this 
Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; 
but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through 
the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 163 

as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal 
day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They 
will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and 
illuminations. On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, 
gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and dis- 
tress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, 
I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, 
and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and 
all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; 
and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am 
for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing 
of God it shall be my dying sentiment, Independence now, and Inde- 
pendence forever."' 

And so that day shall be honored, illustrious prophet and patriot! 
so that day shall be honored, and as often as it returns, thy renown 
shall come along with it, and the glory of thy life, like the day of 
thy death, shall not fail from the remembrance of men. 

It would be unjust, fellow citizens, on this occasion, while we 
express our veneration for him who is the immediate subject of these 
remarks, were we to omit a most respectful, affectionate, and grateful 
mention of those other great men, his colleagues, who stood with him, 
and witli the same spirit, the same devotion, took part in the inter- 
esting transaction. Hancock, the proscribed Hancock, exiled from his 
home by a military governor, cut off by proclamation from the mercy 
of the crown — Heaven reserved for him the distinguished honor of 
putting this great question to the vote, and of writing his own name 
first, and most conspicuously, on that parchment which spoke defi- 
ance to the power of the crown of England. There, too, is the name 
of that other proscribed patriot, Samuel Adams, a man who hungered 
and thirsted for the independence of his country, who thought the 
Declaration halted and lingered, being himself not only ready, but 
eager, for it, long before it was proposed; a man of the deepest 
sagacity, the clearest foresight, and the profoundest judgment in 
men. And there is Gerry, himself among the earliest and the fore- 
most of the patriots, found, when the battle of Lexington summoned 
them to common counsels, by the side of Warren; a man who lived to 
serve his country at home and abroad, and to die in the second place 
in the government. There, too, is the inflexible, the upright, the 
Spartan character, Robert Treat Paine. He also lived to serve his 



164 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

country through the struggle, and then withdrew from her councils, 
only that he might give his labors and his life to his native State, in 
another relation. These names, fellow citizens, are the treasures of 
the Commonwealth; and they are treasures which grow brighter by 
time. 



ON THE MURDER OF JOSEPH WHITE. 

1VERY much regret that it should have been thought necessary to 
suggest to you that I am brought here to "hurry you against the 
law and beyond the evidence." I hope I have too much regard 
for justice, and too much respect for my own character, to attempt 
either; and were I to make such an attempt, I am sure that in this 
court nothing can be carried against the law, and that gentlemen, 
intelligent and just as you are, are not, by any power, to be hurried 
beyond the evidence. Though I could well have wished to shun this 
occasion, 1 have not felt at liberty to withhold my professional 
assistance, when it is supposed that I may be in some degree useful 
in investigating and discovering the truth respecting this most ex- 
traordinary murder. It has seemed to be a duty incumbent on me, 
as on every other citizen, to do my best and my utmost to bring to 
light the perpetrators of this crime. Against the prisoner at the bar, 
as an individual, I cannot have the slightest prejudice. I would not 
do him the smallest injury or injustice. But I do not affect to be 
indifferent to the discovery and the punishment of this deep guilt. I 
cheerfully share in the opprobrium, how great soever it may be, 
which is cast on those who feel and manifest an anxious concern that 
all who had a part in planning, or a hand in executing, this deed of 
midnight assassination, may be brought to answer for their enormous 
crime at the bar of public justice. 

Ontlemen, it is a most extraordinary ease. In some respects, it 
has hardly a precedent anywhere; certainly none in our New England 
history. This bloody drama exhibited no suddenly excited, ungov- 
ernable rage. The actors in it were not surprised by any lion-like 
temptation springing upon their virtue, and overcoming it, before 
resistance could begin. Nor did they do the deed to glut savage ven- 
geance, or satiate long-settled and deadly hate. It was a cool, calcu- 
lating, money-making murder. It was all "hire and salary, not 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 16? 

revenge." It was the weighing of money against life; the counting 
out of so many pieces of silver against so many ounces of blood. 

An aged man, without an enemy in the world, in his own house, 
and in his own bed, is made the victim of a butcherly murder, for 
mere pay. Truly, here is a new lesson for painters and poets. Who- 
ever shall hereafter draw the portrait of murder, if he will show it 
as it has been exhibited, where such example was last to have been 
looked for, in the very bosom of our New England society, let him 
not give it the grim visage of Moloch, the brow knitted by revenge, 
the face black with settled hate, and the bloodshot eye emitting livid 
fires of malice. Let him draw, rather, a decorous, smooth-faced, 
bloodless demon; a picture in repose, rather than in action; not so 
much an example of human nature in its depravity, and in its par- 
oxysms of crime, as an infernal being, a fiend, in the ordinary display 
and development of his character. 

The deed was executed with a degree of self-possession and steadi- 
ness equal to the wickedness with which it was planned. The circum- 
stances now clearly in evidence spread out the whole scene before us. 
Deep sleep had fallen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his 
roof. A healthful old man, to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound 
slumbers of the night held him in their soft but strong embrace. The 
assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an unoc- 
cupied apartment. With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall, half 
lighted by the moon; he winds up the ascent of the stairs, and reaches 
the door of the chamber. Of this, he moves the lock, by soft and con- 
tinued pressure, till it turns on its hinges without noise; and he 
enters, and beholds his victim before him. The room is uncommonly 
open to the admission of light. The face of the innocent sleeper is 
turned from the murderer, and the beams of the moon, resting on the 
gray locks of his aged temple, show him where to strike. The fatal 
blow is given ! and the Anctim passes, without a struggle or a motion, 
from the repose of sleep to the repose of death ! It is the assassin's 
purpose to make sure work; and he plies the dagger, though it is 
obvious that life has been destroyed by the blow of the bludgeon. 
He even raises the aged arm, that he may not. fail in his aim at the 
heart, and replaces it again over the wounds of the poiniard! To 
finish the picture, he explores the wrist for the pulse! He feels for 
it, and ascertains that it beats no longer! It is accomplished. The 
deed is done. He retreats, retraces his steps to the window, passes 



166 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

out through it as he came in, and escapes. He has done the murder. 
No eye has seen him, no ear has heard him. The secret is his own, 
and it is safe! 

Ah ! gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. Such a secret can 
be safe nowhere. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor 
corner where the guilty can bestow it, and say it is safe. Not to 
speak of that Eye which pierces through all disguises, and beholds 
everything as in the splendor of noon, such secrets of guilt are never 
safe from detection, even by men. True it is, generally speaking, 
that "murder will out." True it is, that Providence hath so ordained, 
and doth so govern things, that those who break the great law of 
Heaven by shedding man's blood seldom succeed in avoiding discovery. 
Especially, in a case exciting so much attention as this, discovery 
must come, and will come, sooner or later. A thousand eyes turn at 
once to explore every man, everything, every circumstance, connected 
with! the time and place; a thousand ears catch every whisper; a 
thousand excited minds intensely dwell on the scene, shedding all 
their light, and ready to kindle the slightest circumstance into a 
blaze of discovery. Meantime the guilty soul cannot keep its own 
secret. It is false to itself; or rather it feels an irresistible impulse 
of conscience to be true to itself. It labors under its guilty posses- 
sion, and knows not what to do with it. The human heart was not 
made for the residence of such an inhabitant. It finds itself preyed 
on by a torment, which it dares not acknowledge to God or man. A 
vulture is devouring it, and it can ask no sympathy or assistance, 
either from heaven or earth. The secret which the murderer pos- 
sesses soon comes to possess him; and, like the evil spirits of which 
we read, it overcomes him, and leads him whithersoever it will. lie 
feels it beating at his heart, rising to his throat, and demanding dis- 
closure. He thinks the whole world sees it in his face, reads it in 
his eyes, and almost hears its workings in the very silence of his 
thoughts. It has become his master. It betrays his discretion, it 
breaks down his courage, it conquers his prudence. When suspicions 
from without begin to embarrass him, and the net of circumstances 
to entangle him, the fatal secret struggles with still greater violence 
to burst forth. It must be confessed, it will be confessed; there is 
no refuge from confession but suicide, and suicide is confession. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 167 

FROM WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE. 

A Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States on Foote's 
Resolution, January 26, 1830. 

In relation to slavery Mr. Webster said: "There is not, and never 
has been, a disposition in the north to interfere with the interests of 
the south. Such interference has never been supposed to be within 
the power of the government, nor has been in any way attempted. 
The slavery of the south has always been regarded as a matter of 
domestic policy, left with the states themselves, and with which the 
federal government had nothing to do. Certainly, sir, I am and ever 
have been, of that opinion. 

"The gentleman, indeed argues that slavery in the abstract, is no 
evil. Most assuredly I need not say I differ from him, altogether and 
most widely on that point. I regard domestic slavery as one of the 
greatest evils, both moral and political. But though it be a malady, 
and whether it be curable, and if so by what means.. .1 leave it to 
them whose right and duty it is, to enquire and to decide." 

He then recounted the whole history of the struggle pertaining to 
the extension of slavery, in connection with an able discussion of con- 
stitutional law. 

STATE RIGHTS. 

After discussing at great length the urgent necessity of public 
improvements, he struck the doctrine of "state's rights" with vigor- 
ous and well directed blows. 

"I understand the honorable gentleman from South Carolina to 
maintain that it is the right of state legislatures to interfere, when- 
ever, in their judgment, this government transcends its constitutional 
limits, and to arrest the operation of its laws." 

SOVEREIGNTY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Then followed a long argument on the sovereignty of the Con- 
stitution and the necessary loyalty to be given it from the various 
states. 

He ar<nied that the government itself was a popular one erected 
by the people — that those who administered its affairs were responsi- 



168 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ble to the people alone, that the state governments also emanated 
from the people, but the general government was created for one pur 
pose and the state governments for another. "We are here to admin- 
ister a Constitution emanating immediately from the people, and 
trusted by them to our administration. Jt is not a creature of state 

governments But sir, the people have wisely provided 

in the Constitution itself, a proper mode and tribunal for settling 
questions of constitutional law. . .The Constitution itself, has pointed 
out, ordained and established that authority. How has it accom- 
plished this great and successful end? By declaring, sir, that the 
Constitution and the laws of the United States made in pursuance 
thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the Con- 
stitution, or laws of any state, to the contrary, notwithstanding.'' 

He then made a long and forcible argument on the subject of con- 
stitutional law. closing with an eloquent and prophetic picture of 
the state of affairs which would obtain, if the doctrines of nullifica- 
tion were consistently carried out. 

REPLY TO CALHOUN. 

Speech in the Senate of the United States, on the lfith day of 

February, 1S33. 

After giving a forcible resume of the previous positions of South 
Carolina in relation to the tariff, he said: 

"I hold South Carolina to her ancient, her cool, her uninfluenced 
her deliberate opinions. I hold her to her own admissions, nay, to 
her own claims and pretensions, in 1789 in the First Congress, and 
to her acknowledgments and avowed sentiments through a long series 
of succeeding years. I hold her to the principles on which she led 
congress to act in 1816. or if she has changed her own opinions, 1 
claim some respect for those who still retain the same views. 

"I say she is precluded from asserting that doctrines which she 
herself lias so long and so ably sustained, are plain, palpable and 
dangerous violations of the Constitution. 

"Mr. President, if the friends of nullification should be able to 
propagate their opinions, and give them practical effect, they would 
in my judgment, prove themselves the most skillful architects of ruin. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. ,6 9 

the most effectual extinguishers of high raised expectation, the great- 
est blasters of human hopes, which any age has produced. 

"They would stand up to the proclaim, ,in tones that would pierce 
the ears of half the human race, that the last great experiment in 
human government had failed. They would send forth sounds, at the 
hearing of which, "the divine right of kings," would feel even in its 
grave, a returning sensation of vitality and resuscitation. 

"Millions of eyes,of those who now feed their inherent love of lib- 
erty on the success of the American example, would turn away from 
beholding our dismemberment and find no place on earth wherein to 
rest their gratified sight. Amidst the incantations and orgies of nul- 
lification, secession, disunion and revolution, would be celebrated the 
funeral rites of constitutional and republican liberty. 

"But sir, if the government do its duty, if it act with firmness and 
with moderation, these opinions cannot prevail. Be assured, that 
among the political sentiments of this people the love of union is still 
uppermost. 

"They will stand fast by the Constitution, and by those who defend 
it, I rely on no temporary expedients — on no political combination; 
but I rely on the true American feeling — the genuine patriotism of the 
people, and the imperative decision of the public voice. 

"With my whole heart, I pray for the continuance of the domestic 
peace and quiet of the country, I desire most ardently, the restoration 
of affection and harmony to all its parts, I desire that every citizen of 
the whole country may look to this government, with no other senti- 
ments but those of grateful respect and attachment. Disorder and 
confusion, indeed may arise — scenes of commotion and contest are 
threatened, and perhaps may come. 

"But I cannot yield,even to kind feelings, the cause of the Consti- 
tution, the true glory of the country, and the great trust which we hold 
in our hands, for succeeding ages. If the Constitution cannot be 
maintained without meeting these scenes of commotion, they must 

come. 

"We cannot, we must not, we dare not, omit to do that, which in 

our judgment, the safety of the Union requires. 

"Not regardless of consequences, we must yet meet consequences; 

seeing the hazards which surround the discharge of public duty, it 

must yet be discharged. 

"For myself, sir, I shun no responsibility justly devolving on me, 



i 7 o DANIEL WEBSTER. 

here or elsewhere, in attempting to maintain the cause — I am tied to 
it by indissoluble bonds of affection and duty, and I shall cheerfully 
partake of its fortunes and its fate. I am ready to perform my own 
appropriate part, whenever and wherever the occasion may call me, 
and to take my chance among those upon whom the blows may fall 
first, and fall thickest. 

"I shall exert every faculty I possess, in aiding to prevent the Con- 
stitution from being nullified, destroyed or impaired; and even if I 
should see it fall, I will still, with a voice, feeble, perhaps, but earnest, 
as ever issued from human lips, call on the people to come to its 
rescue." 

FROM THE COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Delivered in the Senate of the United States. 

Having been again returned to the Senate, his last great speech 
before that august body was delivered on the 7th of March, 1850, only 
two years before the death of the great orator. 

Various schemes were under discussion concerning the extension 
of slavery in the territories, and newly admitted states, and as usual in 
those days, the threat of secession was heard from too many of the 
southern senators. Some of them advocated the idea that secession 
might be peaceably accomplished, and in relation to that subject, we 
find the following paragraph in this celebrated address: 

"Peaceable secession! peaceable secession! The concurrent agree- 
ment of all the members of this great republic to separate! 

"A voluntary separation, with alimony on the one side and on the 
other. Why, what would be the result? Where is the line to be 
drawn? What states are to secede? What is to remain American? 
What am I to be? An American no longer? Where is the flag of the 
republic to remain? Where is the eagle still to tower? or is he to 
cower, and sink, and fall to the ground? 

"Why, sir, our ancestors — our fathers and our grandfathers, those 
of them that are yet living among us with prolonged lives — would re- 
buke and reproach us. And our children and our grandchildren would 
cry out, 'Shame upon us!' if we of this generation should dishonor 
these ensigns of the power of the government, and the harmony of the 
Union, which is every day felt among us with so much power and 
gratitude. 






DANIEL WEBSTER. 171 

"What is to become of the army? What is to become of the navy? 
What is to become of the public lands? How is each of the thirty 
states to defend itself? I know, although the idea has not been stated 
distinctly, there is to be a southern confederacy. I do not mean when I 
allude to this statement, that any one seriously contemplates such a 
state of things. I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have heard 
it suggested elsewhere that this idea has originated in a design to sep- 
arate. I am sorry, sir, that it has ever been thought of, talked of, or 
dreamed of, in the wildest nights of human imagination." 



THE STORY OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 

FOR A SCHOOL OR CLUB PROGRAMME. 

Kacli numbered paragraph is to be given to a pupil or 
member to read, or to recite, in a clear, distinct tone. 

If the school or club is small, each person may take 
three or four paragraphs, but should not be required to 
recite them in succession. 

1. Daniel Webster was born on the 18th day of January, 
1782, of pioneer parents. His father was an officer in the war of the 
Revolution. 

2. Although delicate in childhood, he appears to have inherited 
from his grandmother and his father, a fine physique, with a large 
brain and rugged features, also good literary tastes, and an aptitude 
for mental acquisition. 

3. His first lessons were given by mother and sisters, but his first 
contact with the world came at Exeter Academy, where he keenly 
felt the ridicule which was freely bestowed upon his rustic dress and 
ways. 

4. He entered Dartmouth College in August of 1797. Here he 
first successfully cultivated the gift of speech, and three years later 
he was invited to deliver the Fourth of July oration at Hanover. 

5. Even his earliest speeches were characterized by patriotism, 
fidelity to the Constitution being a favorite theme. 

6. He was graduated from Dartmouth in 1801, with some smat- 
tering cf the law, but with a much greater familiarity with English 
literature. 

7. He gave up his law studies and taught school, in order to be 



I7 2 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

enabled to contribute to the support of his elder brother who was 
then in College. 

8. When his father died in 1806, Daniel assumed his financial ob- 
ligations, waited until his brother was admitted to the bar, then went 
to Portsmouth, where he made his home. 

9. In i8oq Mr. Webster was married to Miss Grace Fletcher, the 
daughter of the minister at Salisbury. With her he lived happily un- 
til her death, nearly twenty years later. 

10. In 1 81 3 he took his seat as a member of the Thirteenth Con- 
gress. He was now about thirty years of age. 

11. His best service during his first term was his successful 
opposition to a National Bank having a large paper currency, which 
was not redeemable in either gold or silver coin. 

12. Mr. Webster was re-elected to the Fourteenth Congress- 
where the currency fight was renewed. Mr. Webster and his friends- 
however, succeeded in eliminating the most injurious features of the 
bill before it was finally passed. 

13. About 1 816 he was admitted to the practice of law before the 
Supreme Court of the United States. 

14. In 1 8 1 7 he removed his family to Boston where he made his 
home for many years. It was in this year also, that he lost his beauti- 
ful little daughter Grace, who died in her father's arms. 

15. In 1818, on the tenth day of March he made his memwable 
argument in behalf of Dartmouth College before the Supreme Court 
of the United States. This victory was more far-reaching than any 
other which, up to that time, had been won before the Pederal Courts. 

16. In 1820 he delivered his celebrated oration at Plymouth on 
the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, just two hundred years 
after the date of that event. 

17. In 1823 he again took his seat in Congress, this time as a 
representative of the people of Boston. 

18. In 1824 he delivered his great speech on "The Greek Revo- 
lution," protesting against the unspeakable barbarity of the Turks, 
and claiming that the struggling Greeks were entitled to the active 
sympathy of the whole civilized world. 

19. In 1825, before he was forty-three years of age, he delivered 
his celebrated address on "The Laying of the Corner Stone of the 
Bunker Hill Monument." 

20. In 1826 he was chosen Senator, and this year was also signal- 
ized by his eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson. 

21. In 1828, in January of this year, he lost his beloved wife, and 
with her loss came a terrible break in his life, for she had been com- 
rade and friend, as well as a devoted wife. This year, also, he deliv- 
ered an able scientific lecture at the opening of the course at the Me- 
chanics Institution in Boston. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 173 

22. In 1829 he lost his faithful brother Ezekiel, who died from 
heart failure while making an eloquent plea in court. 

23. In 1829, also, he was married to Miss Leroy of New York, 
who survived him. 

24. In 1830 he made his celebrated "Reply to Hayne," an effort 
which has probably never been surpassed in debate upon the floor of 
the Senate. He was now about forty-eight years of age. 

25. In 1831 people began to talk of him as a very probable can- 
didate for the Presidency, but he was defeated for the nomination in 
consequence of his opposition to Van Buren as Minister to England. 

26. In November of the year 1831, South Carolina passed her cel- 
ebrated ordinance nullifying the laws of the United States, concerning 
the collection of the revenue. John C. Calhoun had resigned the Vice 
Presidency, accepted the Senatorship, and went to the capital as the 
champion of secession. 

27. Webster immediately allied himself to the Administration 
as the champion of the Constitution and the law. 

28. In 1832 Webster delivered his "Eulogy upon Washington," 
in honor of the centennial birthday of our first President, at a public 
dinn&r in the city of Washington. 

29. In 1833 he advocated with all the eloquence and logic at his 
command the famous "Force Bill," empowering the President of the 
United States to use all the military force of the government, if neces- 
sary, for the enforcement of the laws. 

30. Although Webster had proved a veritable tower of strength 
to the administration during the conflict with the incipient rebellion, 
still he had a prolonged struggle with President Jackson in the fall of 
1833, on the question of finance. 

31. He was always in favor of a paper currency which was re- 
deemable in either gold or silver coin, and during the heated contro- 
versy on this subject in 1833, he delivered sixty-four addresses upon 
the question, finally winning his point against the administration. 

32. In 1833, also, he delivered his famous "Reply to Calhoun," in 
the Senate of the United States, in connection with the bill "further to 
provide for the collection of duties upon imports." Here, again, his 
sturdy blows upon the doctrine of nullification fell thick and fast. 

33. In this year, also, Henrv Clay presented the bill for a com- 
promise, which Webster fought with all the energy of his being. 

34. In 1837 he delivered one of his best speeches in New York 
City, giving voice to his political positions upon important public 
questions. Here, as elsewhere, he was dignified and courteous to his 
opponents, carrying the whole audience with him. He was now forty- 
five years of age. The unity of the Great Republic was again the 
theme of his etoquent eulogy. 

35. In 1839 Mr. Webster went to England with his family for a 



174 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

long needed rest, and was everywhere received with appropriate hon- 
ors as one of the foremost citizens of a great nation. 

36. Upon his return to his native heath in the winter of the same 
year, he found General Harrison the nominee of his party for the 
Presidency, and he threw himself into the campaign with all the en- 
thusiasm of his nature. 

37. 1840. During this summer he made campaign speeches for 
Harrison in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 
Seventy or more public addresses were made during this campaign, 
mostly upon the various phases of the currency question. 

38. 1841. On the election of Harrison he was invited to accept 
the portfolio of State, and he accepted the position, taking his place 
in the cabinet, in March of this year. 

39. President Harrison dying after only one month of official 
life, and it being the first time a President had died in office, it de- 
volved upon Secretary Webster to arrange and establish the necessa- 
ry forms to be complied with, and the honors to be paid upon such 
occasions. 

40. When Harrison was succeeded by Tyler, Secretary Webster 
was earnestly requested to retain the portfolio of State, and finally de- 
cided to do so. 

41. In 1842 Lord Ashburton, as the especial envoy of Great Brit- 
ain, arrived in Washington to confer with our government respecting 
the difficult question of the northwestern boundary line and other 
matters which were producing much international irritation. 

42. After much delay, and the careful manipulation of several 
delicate questions, Mr. Webster, with his assistant counsel, succeeded 
in arranging with the British envoy the "Ashburton Treaty," which 
settled some grievous questions at a time when war seemed almost 
unavoidable. 

43. Although his personal relations with President Tyler were 
cordial, there were some political complications which led to his res- 
ignation, and he retired to his beautiful country home at Marshfield, 
where he passed a little time in retirement. 

44. When Henry Clay was nominated for the Presidency in 1844, 
he gave him cordial support, and took the stump in his behalf, al- 
though cordially disliking the man personally, and feeling sure, as he 
said, that "Clay would not doit for me." 

45. He was opposed to the conduct of the Mexican war, but dur- 
ing these campaigns he lost his beloved son Edward, who died in 
Mexico as the Major of a regiment of Massachusetts volunteers. 

46. The body of the young officer was brought to Boston on the 
very day that his beloved sister was consigned to the tomb. 

47. A few davs later a fervent religious service was held over the 
body of Edward Webster, and then military honors were accorded to 
him as he was laid away in the tomb. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 175 

48. Mr. Webster planted two weeping elms on his lawn at 
Marshfield as a memorial of his son and daughter, and made arrange- 
ments for the resting place for himself and his family. 

49. In 1845 ne was chosen Senator from Massachusetts, and as 
soon as he could rally a little after his terrible loss, he hurried away 
to bury his aching heart in the rush of public duty. 

50. General Taylor became the nominee of the Whig party for 
the Presidency, when by all the laws of political justice the nomina- 
tion should have gone to Webster. 

51. Webster was opposed to the placing of military men in the 
Chair of the Chief Executive, because military efficiency is not a 
qualification for wise statesmanship, but at last he decided to vote for 
Taylor and advise his friends to do so. 

52. When President Taylor suddenly died, the portfolio of State 
was again offered to Webster, who accepted it, taking his place in 
Fillmore's cabinet in July of 1850. 

53. His administration of the department was again satisfactory 
although there was no such important international negotiations as 
the Ashburton Treaty. 

54. He was thrown from his carriage while driving in Marshfield 
and was severely injured, after which he was never again in health. 

55. He spent much of his time at Marshfield, and would have re- 
signed his position, but retained it at the especial request of thePres- 
ident, and indeed he succeeded in transacting the business of his de- 
partment until a few months before his death. 

56. On the evening of October 3, 1852, he went to his rest, lying 
down upon his armor in firm reliance upon the Christian hope. 

57. The gates of his spacious lawn were thrown open, and about 
ten thousand people came to attend the simple funeral services, which 
were in accordance with his own expressed wish. 

58. One of the grandest lives among our American statesmen 
passed into history, and his words will ever live as an eloquent vindi- 
cation of the Constitution and the Laws. 



PROGRAMME FOR A DANIEL WEBSTER EVENING. 

1. Music— "Star Spangled Banner." 

2. Recitation— Extract from Webster's speech entitled, "The 
Constitution not a Compact." 

3. Essay— Webster's Services as Secretary of State. 

4. Instrumental Music — Patriotic Air. 

5. Recitation— Extract from W T ebster's Reply to Hayne. 

6. Anecdotes of Webster, as many taking part as possible. 

7. Vocal Music— All join in singing "America." 



176 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 

What can you say of the grand-parents of Daniel Webster? Des- 
cribe his father? What of the military career of Ebenezer Webster? 
1 1 'hen and where was Daniel bom ? What can you say of his child 
life? Give a brief summary of his educational advantages? When 
and where was his first public address delivered? When was he 
graduated from Dartmouth ? 1 1 'hat was his first work afterwards ? 
Describe his personal appearance. When did his father die? When 
and whom did Daniel 1 1 'ebster marry ? 1 1 'hen was he first elected to 
Congress? What was the most important service which he rendered 
to the country during the Thirteenth Congress? What can you say of 
the Fourteenth Congress? What can you say of his management of the 
Dartmouth College case? Which is considered the finest of his anni- 
versary speeches ? 

What can you say of his speech on the Great Revolution ? What 
of t lie address on the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Hunker Hill 
Monument? Mention the principal master-pieces among his addresses. 
What can you say of his first day in the Senate after the death of his 
wife? Recapitulate briefly his conflict with the nu I lifters of South 
Carolina. 

What can you say of his reply to /Payne? When was his name 
first mentioned in connection with the Presidency? II ho was his suc- 
cessful rival for the nomination at this time? What can you say of 
the Force Bill? What relation did Webster sustain to Jackson's ad- 
ministration during the days of the threatened rebellion? What was 
his relation to it on the question of finance? What can you say of his 
speech entitled, "The Constitution not a Compact?" 

What was the result of the excitement on the subject of ■nullifica- 
tion? What can you say of Webster s struggle with Jackson on the 
question of finance? When did he go to England? What was the 
condition of American politics when he returned? What can you say 
of his work during the Harrison campaign? What was the result? 
When was he re-elected to the Senate for the six year term? When 
did he become the Secretary of State? Give a brief synopsis of his 
most valuable service in this department? What can you say of his 
letter to Lord Ash burton on the subject of impressment ? 

Describe briefly Webster' s home at Marshfield? What can you 
say of his life there? When was he again called to a position in the 
Cabinet? What were his relations with President Tyler? How was 
his work in the cabinet considered? When was Henry Clay nomina- 
ted for the Presidency ? What part did Webster takein the campaign? 
When was he elected to the Senate for the last time? What position 
did he take in relation to the war with Mexico? What did the war 
cost him ? Give briefly the incidents connected with the death of his 
son. 

Give the story of Henry Pleasants? When did Mr. ITebsler's 
daughter die? When was Webster's name presented to the Whig 
convention as a candidate for the Presidency? Who received the nom~ 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



•77 



ination at this time? Why should he have been the nominee of the 
party? What effect did the disappointment have upon him? What 
were his objections to Taylor? II 'hat did he do during this campaign? 
What can you say of his speech on " The < 'ompromises of the Constitu- 
tion?" In what way -was it criticized.' What was the apparent 
cause of his great political mistake ? What were the main features op 
the Clay compromise? II 'hat were the successes of the Free Soil par- 
ty ? 1 1 'hat relation did 1 1 'ebster sustain to Fillmore s administration ? 
What can you say of his work? 

When was Webster's name again presented to the Whig conven- 
tion as a candidate for the Presidency? II 'ilh what result ? Who was 
the successful candidate ? J I 'hat was the result of this disappoint- 
ment? What can you say of the inscription which he dictated for his 
tombstone? What little incident illustrates his love for the flag dur- 
ing his last illness ? When did he die ? What wishes itid he express 
concerning his funeral ? What can you say of the simple obsequies? 



I. 
2. 

3- 
•A 
5- 



SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL STUDY. 

The heredity and childhood of Daniel Webster. 

His development as an orator. 

His influence upon the politics of the period. 

His services as Secretary of State. 

His personal life. 



CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF DANIEL WEBSTER, 

1782. Born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18. 

1703. Entered Exeter Academy. 

1797. Entered Dartmouth College. 

1800. Delivered the Fourth of July address for the people of Hanover. 

1801. Was graduated from Dartmouth, and returning to his native 

town entered the law office of one of his father's friends. A 
little later, however, he was induced by an offer of three hun- 
dred and fifty dollars a year to become a teacher at Eryburg, 
Maine, where he earned his board by copying deeds. This 
change seemed necessary in the embarrassed condition of the 
finances of the Webster family. 
1804. He went to Boston and entered the law office of Mr. Christo- 
pher Gore, an eminent member of the Boston bar, who was 
afterward elected Governor of Massachusetts. 

1806. His faithful father died, and Daniel assumed his financial res- 

ponsibilities, and after his brother Ezekiel was admitted to 
the bar, he placed his law practice there in the hands of the 
brother. 

1807. Removed to Portsmouth, where he made his home for many 

years. 

1808. \Vent back to Salisbury for his bride, Miss Grace Fletcher, 



178 DANIEL WEBSTER, 

bringing her to his new home, where their children were born. 

1 812. Was elected a member of the Thirteenth Congress, taking his 
seat in May of 18 1 3. 

1814. Delivered his strong address in opposition to the conduct of the 
war which was then in progress, opposing the purpose of the 
administration to enforce a draft which included minors. Ik 
claimed that the government should give up the idea of inva- 
sion, and if the war must be continued, it should be carried to 
the coast, and conducted in defense of maritime rights. 

181 7. Lost his little daughter Grace, who died in her father's arms. 

1818. He argued the famous Dartmouth College case before the Su- 

preme Court of the United States, on the tenth day of March. 
This address is universally acknowledged as his master piece 
in this department of legal work, and it had a far-reaching 
effect. His success in this case brought within the scope of 
the United States every charter granted by a state, and ex- 
tended the jurisdiction of the Federal Court more than any 
other judgment which it had ever rendered. 

1820. Delivered the famous oration at Plymouth in commemoration 
of the Landing of the Pilgrims. This speech was given on 
the 22d day of December, two hundred years after the mem- 
orable event took place. 

1822. Was nominated for Congress by the people of Boston, and in 
December of the following year he again took his seat in that 
august body, this time representing a Massachusetts constit- 
uency. 

1824. Delivered in the House of Representatives his speech on "The 

Greek Revolution." He was then forty-two years of age, and 
this effort was considered in both America and Great Britain 
the ablest which, up to that time, had ever been made upon 
that floor. 

1825. Gave his celebrated address in connection with the laying of 

the corner stone of Bunker Hill Monument, at Charlestown, 
Mass. 

1826. Delivered his oration upon the lives and services of John Ad- 

ams and Thomas Jefferson. It was given in Faneuil Hall on 
August 2d. It was in this year, also, that he was chosen to 
the Senate. 

1828. Buried his beloved wife, from whose loss he never, perhaps, 

fully recovered. This was also an eventful year in the Sen- 
ate, and he made several important speeches on the subject 
of the tariff. It was in November of this year that he gave 
the introductory lecture at the opening of the scientific course 
at Mechanic's Institute at Boston. He was fond of science, 
and had chosen a scientific theme for his graduating essay. 

1829. He met with another severe loss in the death of his brother 

K/.ekiel, and before the year was out he was again married, 
this time to Miss Leroy of New York. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 179 

1830. He delivered his great address in "Reply to Hayne" of South 
Carolina. This speech occupied the greater portion of two 
days in its delivery, and has been universally considered one 
of the ablest which has ever been made in debate. 

iSja. South Carolina passed her celebrated nullification ordinance, 
and it was followed by exciting times in the Senate. And in 
this time of need, Webster came out squarely in behalf of the 
administration, and its right to collect revenues from a rebel- 
lious state. It was this year, also, that he delivered his 
speech in honor of the centennial birthday of Washington. 
His name was also considered in connection with the nomin- 
ation for the presidency. 

1833. Delivered his celebrated "Reply to Calhoun." This speech 
was entitled, "The Constitution not a Compact." 

In the autumn of the same year he had a prolonged strug- 
gle with President Jackson, on the subject of finance. Dur- 
this contest Webster spoke upon the subject about sixty-four 
times, winning a victory at last over the administration. 

1837. Delivered a notable political address in New York, besides 
many minor efforts. 

1839. Went with his family to England for a long needed rest. Was 

everywhere received as befitted one of the principal citizens of 
the United States. In December of that year General Har- 
rison was nominated for the Presidency, and on his return to 
the states, Webster was drawn into the powerful current of 
the political campaign. 

1840. During the summer of this year he delivered political address- 

es in behalf of the Whig nominee (Harrison) in Massachusetts, 
New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, making about seventy 
speeches on the various phases of the question of finance. 
The result was an overwhelming victory for his party. 

1841. Became Secretary of State under President Harrison, remain- 

ing in office under the administration of Tyler until 1843. 

This term of office was signalized by valuable services to the 
government in relation to the successful formation of the Ash- 
burton Treaty. 

He also wrote an important letter to Lord Ashburton on the 
subject of impressment. This radical document forever put 
a stop to the custom which had too long obtained among Brit- 
ish cruisers of impressing seamen from American merchant 
vessels. 

1843. Retired to his country seat at Marshfield, having resigned the 

Portfolio of State. He remained in retirement only a short time 
when Clay was nominated for the Presidency, when he gave 
him an enthusiastic support, not because he liked the man, 
for he did not, but because he endorsed the principles which 
he represented. 

1844. Although Clay had been defeated Webster could not keep out 



180 DANIEL WEBSTER. 

of politics, and he was again elected Senator from Massachu- 
setts. 

1845. He took his seat in the Senate for his last term. He op- 
posed the acquisition of territory by conquest, claiming that 
such procedure threatened the very' existence of the nation. 
The Mexican war cost him the life of his son Edward, who died 
as a Major of Massachusetts Volunteers, and his body was 
brought home just as they were consigning the body of Mr. 
Webster's daughter, Mrs. Appleton to the tomb. Hence this 
was another terrible year for the statesman. 

1848. Webster was again prominently talked of, for the Presidency, 
but to the shame of his party the nomination was given to Tay- 
lor, and Webster spurned the offer of a second place on the 
ticket. 

He was tempted to leave the campaign battles for 
others to fight while he went to his beloved Marshfield for 
much needed rest, but party spirit sent him again into the 
field, and Taylor was duly elected and inaugurated. 

1850. Delivered his speech in the Senate of the United States on"The 
Compromises of the Constitution." After this he resigned his 
seat to accept the position of Secretary of State under Fill- 
more, who had succeeded to the Presidency upon the sudden 
death of Taylor July oth, 1850. 

The second term as Secretary was marked by succeessful 
service to the State, although there were no great internation- 
al questions to be settled. 

1852. The Whig Convention assembled in Baltimore and Webster's 
name was presented for the first place on the ticket. But af- 
ter fifty two successive ballots, the nomination was given to 
General Scott, Webster being again "wounded in the house 
of his friends." 

The same year, while driving near his country seat he was 
thrown from his carriage and severely injured. He continued 
however to transact the business of his Department until the 
8th of September, when he returned to Marshfield, never 
again to see the city where he had given to his country so 
many years of hard work. 

On the evening of October 3rd, his brilliant career was 
closed by the touch of the death angel, and he left a nation 
in mourning over his loss. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

For those who wish to read more extensively on the subject we 
commend the following works: 

Ticknor's "Life of Webster." American Statesman Series. 
"Life and Memories of Daniel Webster." D. Appleton & Co., New 
York. 



H104 an \ 












A 






,<f- 



•A 

O 4. ** r, w 






o 





















♦ 



























>, ^ 








































^O r 



V. "** 



•;i 



"^ 







4? 'r* ' * 



?* ** *<► 




4? ► *** 













^°^ 



■4- 




N ^ 










4? '4**' * v ^m 







'• \, / •> 




^0' 




LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 



011896 592 9 • 



